


The Grey Mage's Quest

by Hellaoldfander86



Series: Fixing the Failure [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders
Genre: A Bit of Fluff, Beta? Who's she? Never heard of her..., Blood, Chaos Magic, Family Bonding, Fixing the Failure AU, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Magic, Major Character Injury, One swear word is said. ONE!, Started months before "Learning New Things About Ourselves" (Puppet Episode), The Imagination, Transformation, Virgil doesn't say it, a bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-06-19 04:33:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 49,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15502392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellaoldfander86/pseuds/Hellaoldfander86
Summary: A peaceful picnic in the imagination is interrupted by a mage with the need to procure a component that will reverse the effects of a previously irreversible type of magic.To get the help of Prince Roman and the sides, the mage uses the very magic he needs the reversal component for to change each of them, to force them to help find it.Because if they don't get it, they will not be able to change back to normal.





	1. Meeting the Mage

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the Sander Sides characters. The wondrous human being known as Thomas Sanders does.

“What the heck!?” Virgil growls from his small cell in the bioluminescent lit cave he had just woke up in.

Roman crosses his arms and sighs. “I have no idea, emo nightmare, I’m just as confused as you as to why someone would do...this!” Roman waves his hand to indicate his own incarceration from his small cell next to Virgils.

“Let’s not fight here, kiddos.” Patton chides the two from his cell across from Virgil's, “It’s not going to solve anything right now.”

“Patton is correct.” Logan says in his cell next to Pattons, “Shouting will only cause us to lose our voices, and our current situation will be unchanged.”

Virgil sighs. “This place is your realm, Roman. Why did this happen? You are supposedly the Head Honcho around here, aren't you in control here?”

Roman paces in his small cell. “I have some semblance of control when I go into the imagination, but there are, for the lack of a better word, uncontrollable things that happen upon which I have no control over whatsoever.”

“You mean anomalies. A deviation from the common rule, type, arrangement, or form, one that is abnormal and does not fit in. An incongruity or inconsistency, an irregularity.” Logan says with an adjustment to his glasses.

“Exactly! Anomalies! I will have to remember that word! Thank you Logan! The imagination is a vibrant, constantly changing thing. It is always “on”, you can’t turn it off, it is constantly getting information from Thomas, and applying that information in different ways. Plus while I was “away” I have no idea what transpired here. I was unable to interact with or access it at all. “Anomalies” were bound to happen without my supervision.” Roman adds, pacing in his small cell.

“Oh great.” Virgil sighs.

Roman stops pacing and looks toward the entrance of the cave, lost in thought. If the aftertaste in his mouth is any indication, they were dosed with sleep powder. After the picnic, which was going swimmingly, he mentally adds, they all decided to lay down on the blanket they had spread in his favorite meadow to just enjoy the lovely day, and Patton being Patton, noticed some funny shaped clouds and began pointing them out and excitedly announcing what he thought they looked like. The last one he remembers is a dog chasing a ball before he woke up in this cell. The gentle breeze blowing could have carried the sleep powder easily.

Romans musings are interrupted by sounds coming from the entrance to the cave, and a hooded, grey-robed figure strides in, carrying a small satchel. The anomaly has arrived. “Good! You are all awake! I am so sorry I was not here, I suddenly remembered I needed some supplies, and needed to get a fresh ingredient!” 

Roman clears his throat. “And you are?”

“Oh! Forgive me, Your Highness! I am Karybdis the Grey, at your service.” The figure says with a bow.

Roman nods in acknowledgement. The anomaly now has a name, a familiar one. “Wait, the people speak highly of you in the realm, you are an accomplished potion maker and alchemist, and they say you are well versed in the magical arts, and a good man. Why am I and my friends here in these cells?”

Karybdis lays his hood back, revealing a handsome face with black hair and grey eyes, and Roman estimates his age to be in his early 30s. “My Prince, I was going to ask you for your help, but I could not accept no for an answer. So I have shamefully abducted you and your friends. I am hopeful you will forgive me when this is all over, and not toss me into the castle dungeon and throw away the key.”

Roman narrows his eyes. “You think I will help you after being abducted and confined in this small cell? If you threaten the lives of any of my friends to get this help you want so badly I just may toss you into the deepest, darkest hole in my dungeon and forget about you!”

The Grey Mage stiffens. “You will have no choice in the matter. I am in control here, Your Highness.” The mage reaches into his satchel, and retrieves a small bottle with a milky, glowing liquid in it, and holds it up for Roman to see.

Roman’s eyes widen, the anomaly now has something unexpectedly potent, something that has a way to powerfully influence him and his fellow sides in unexpected ways, bending them to the whim of the first true anomaly of his realm, magic.

“How did you get Chaos Water?! It is the most volatile of all magical ingredients! There is no known reversal agent for it that I know of! You can’t use that! The magic would be irreversible!” 

The mage smiles. ”But there is a reversal agent. I have finally know where I can get it. And you and your friends will help me get it, you will have no choice, as I have said.”

Karybdis motions to a large work table nearby with four small potion bottles neatly arranged in a straight line. “I add a drop of the water to each of these transformation potions. You each drink a potion, transform into whatever the chaos magic makes you into. Unless you help me get the reversal agent, you stay transformed. Easy as that.”

If looks could kill, the mage would have been evaporated with the lasers Roman was glaring at him. “What if we change into a mindless creature? This is chaos magic we are talking about here. You would have to lock us up until the agent is found, IF the agent is found.” Roman growls.

“You don’t have to worry about that.” The mage says.” Each of these potions is tuned directly to each of you. While you were unconscious, I analyzed your auras and prepared the components accordingly. All I have to do is after the water is added, is to give the appropriate magical instructions for your minds to stay intact, no matter what the magic transforms you into. Chaos magic is unpredictable, but controllable in that aspect.”

“We have no choice Roman.” Logan says with a sigh. “As much as I hate to admit it, we are at an impasse. He is correct in saying that he has all the control here, all the leverage. The logical choice is to help him. He is the one with the keys to our cells.”

Roman looks at each of his fellow sides and is thankful that Thomas wouldn’t be needing them for a video, since he was hard at work on other projects. Plus, time passes differently in the Imagination, they would barely have been gone when they return to the mind palace. They have no choice but to see this thing through. And he fervently hopes that they will be able to procure the reversal agent, because he really doesn’t want to be stuck in whatever form the chaos magic changes him into.

Roman rubs a hand over his face, and sighs heavily. “So be it. There is no choice in the matter.”

The Grey Mage nods and turns to the work table. He opens a long box and retrieves his wand and sets it within easy reach. He carefully opens the bottle containing the chaos water and retrieving a new dropper out of his satchel, dips it into the water and pulls a small amount of the milky water into the dropper. He then adds a single drop of the water to each potion, causing them to glow slightly. He quickly, yet carefully, reseals the bottle and puts the chaos water away in the nearby cupboard.

The mage then picks up his wand, takes a deep breath, and while slowly waving the wand over the line of bottles, says in a firm, clear voice: “Mutatio corporis, mens immutata!” He then points his wand at the first bottle and in the same firm, clear voice says, “Moralitas!” He moves his wand to the second bottle and says “Logica!” He moves his wand to the third bottle and says “Anxietas!” His wand moves to the last bottle and he says “Glossarium!” With one last wave above all the bottles he then declares “potionem crimen!” And each bottle begins to glow in a different color. Light blue, dark blue, purple and red. “They are ready. Who wants to go first?” Karybdis asks as he puts his wand away in its box.

Roman immediately speaks up. “I’ll go first. This us my realm after all.” The mage picks up the red glowing bottle and presents it to the royal side with a slight bow. As Roman accepts it he looks the mage in the eyes. “How do you know this will just transform me once? Chaos magic is unpredictable.”

Karybdis nods. “That it is, Your Highness. But I have used the bare minimum, so one change only. And with it mixed into the potion that is tuned to be contained within your aura, the change will be of a personal nature. An insecurity or some such will be brought to the forefront and become your new form. It could be relatively small or a large drastic change. I have no control over what that will be, because of the chaos water. Which was a last minute idea of mine after I had assembled the core ingredients, and why I wasn’t present when you awoke. I had to get some fresh water for best potency and the leverage I so desperately needed. Besides, I will know when the change is complete.”

Roman held the red glowing bottle between two fingers and took a deep breath. “I have no choice.” he murmured and tipped the contents of the bottle into his mouth and swallowed, quickly handing the now empty bottle back to the mage.

The bitter herbal taste lingered on his tongue and the potion slid down his throat like a gelatinous blob. It reached his stomach and sat there like lead. His body suddenly began to tingle, and Roman looks at his hands to see a slight red glow surrounding them. A sharp pain shot through his middle. His change began.


	2. Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Chaos Magic does it's work.

Virgil stared with wide eyes and odd fascination as Roman began to glow, then gasped and dropped to his knees. Romans hair turned red with gold streaks and began to grow, stopping at shoulder length, his ears grew slightly pointed, and what Virgil could see of Romans features, they seemed to grow more angular. Then he began to shrink, clothes and all, and then Virgil knew, as well as their captor what he was becoming, and the mage grabbed a small sturdy cage from beside his work table, unlocked Romans cell door and quickly and carefully deposited the still transforming royal side into the cage, closed the door, and locked it as he sat the cage on a clear side of the large work table.

Romans size seemed to stabilize, and Virgil wasn't sure how tall Roman was now, since he was still hunched over in the cage. He suddenly arched his back like something was raking its claws across it. He groaned in pain, and suddenly dragonfly wings erupt from the royals back, still curled up and damp, but begin to uncurl quickly as blood is pumped into them. He then collapses in what seems like relief, the wings beginning to flutter slightly, as they finish unfurling and begin to air dry as the magic gives Roman all the necessary muscles in his back to control his new body parts. 

Roman felt like he had been hit by a truck, but then the truck backed up, running him over again, then was hit by the truck going forward once again. 

The transformation was almost done. Small changes to his form were still happening, slight lengthening of his fingers, his waist slimming a bit, chest broadening and gaining musculature. He had shrank, which felt like he was being pressed flat at the time. He stayed on his hands and knees on the bottom of a cage he didn't remember being transferred into, concentrating on the fluttering of his new wings against his back. He was still fully clothed, thank goodness, and the split second he felt the back of his jacket change to accommodate the soon to erupt wings, realization set in. He was a fairy now. His tunic was still white, so a light fairy. The chaos magic would have changed it if that was not the case. The tingling of the magic subsided, and he gave a sigh of relief. It was done. To become his old self he needed the reversal agent. They all would, when the rest are changed into who knows what.

“Your Highness, look at me.” Roman hears a voice murmur. He looks up and turns his head in the direction the voice came from, looking into the now large face of the Grey Mage. “The change is complete.” the mage says with a smile. “You are beautiful! A fine specimen of a light fairy!” Roman stands up in the cage and mutters “I’m so glad you approve.” As he crosses his arms over his chest.

The mage smiles once more. “I heard that! Good. You have the voice amplification magic that all fairies have, which means you will have all the abilities of a light fairy. We may need the healing on our journey.”

The mage turns to the rest of the captives. “Who’s next?” He asks. Patton immediately raises his hand. “Me.” 

The mage retrieves the light blue glowing bottle and presents it to the fatherly trait, who accepts it gingerly. Patton follows Romans example and downs the potion quickly and hands the bottle back to the mage.

Logan watches Patton begin to sweat heavily as the transformative magics take effect. But then Patton’s body stiffens and he throws back his head and opens his mouth, and a thick light blue glowing cloud flows from Patton’s mouth, but stays within the confines of the small cell even though it should have flowed out through the bars. The cloud fills the small cell in moments, and all Logan can see is a vague shape within the cloud that is the fatherly trait.

Patton stiffly stands in the middle of his small cell, unable to see anything but the cloud surrounding him. He suddenly gets the odd sensation of hands that grab his arms and hold them straight out from his sides and keeps them there. He feels an odd sensation building within his body, like he is being stretched and pulled, and his skin begins to tingle, as his chest broadens, and his arms and legs seem to thicken, to put more substance to his thin body.  
The cloud suddenly absorbs back into Patton’s body through his skin, and as the cloud clears, He only has moments to realize that the headroom in his small cell has greatly diminished before he drops to his hands and knees and every muscle in his body seems to start twitching all at once. He suddenly begins to swell, and muscles begin to grow starting at his legs, and Patton struggles to stand back up, grabbing the cell bars to pull himself up as his legs become more muscular and fill out. His abs are next, and the fatherly trait feels them lock into a six pack, and his chest fills out and his arm muscles swell and define into impressive but not overdone cords of thick, strong muscle. But before he can wonder if something else is going to happen, searing pain causes him to close his eyes and stand stiffly straight as a set of arms burst from his sides ripping through the sides of his polo, gaining the exact musculature of his already existing set within moments, forcing a groan from Patton’s throat as the magic shimmers around him and his polo remakes itself, with extra sleeves where needed.

Patton stands in the suddenly even smaller cell and stares down at his transformed body, taking in his extra height and arms. “Holey cow! I’m like the Incredible Hulk!” he mutters in a deep voice and looks over at Virgil with wide startlingly light blue eyes.

Virgil stares at the fatherly sides new 6 foot 5 thickset form. Two down two to go. But he has a feeling he knows what he will transform into. He just has to take his potion to prove himself right.

Karybdis alternates looking at the two remaining untransformed captives and raises his eyebrows in an unasked yet understood question.

“I’m next.” Logan says before Virgil can draw a breath to speak.

The mage retrieves the dark blue glowing bottle and hands it to the logical captive, who, like the other two, drinks the potion down and gives the bottle back to the mage, who steps back toward the work table and the transformed Roman.

Logan still tastes the bitter herbal potion even after he swallowed the vile concoction down. Magic and fantasy was Roman’s realm, not his. And the could not help but be concerned about what will happen when the magic has its way with him.

Logan stiffens as the magic travels through his body like an electrical current. Buzzing and crackling, his muscles lock up and his head is forced to stare upward. He is unable to move, even just a little bit.

Roman watches Logan’s transformation closely. The logical side stands in his cell, muscles locked, head looking upward, mouth slightly open, it looks like Logan is beginning to sweat, but there is something odd about the color. Liquid silver oozes from every pore on his body, as Logan closes his eyes tight. The exposed skin on his arms are quickly covered, his face follows suit. What stands in the cell now is a smooth shiny silver mannequin wearing Logan’s clothes, that begins to grow. It only grows a few inches and his clothes get larger with him, and it puts Logan at 6 foot 3. The silver form fills out a little bit, to give him a slightly thicker build, then his skin begins to dull to a brushed look. His elbow and finger joints form, able to bend once more, his neck becomes overlapping segments, to facilitate head movement. Logan lowers his head, and Roman sees Logan’s mouth open and close, and it seems like Logan will be able to talk with a mouth that mimics a humans, with a complex looking collection of delicate segments, making it possible for him to emote with his mouth at least, by being able to articulate the corners of his mouth. Logan’s eyelids settle to their segmented, metal form, and are able to finally open, and Roman is greeted with glowing indigo eyes behind Logan’s glasses, which look to be fused to his face.

Logan brings his hands up to his face and flexes the fingers, he then places a hand on his chest, and is met with an unyielding surface beneath his shirt. He doesn’t even remember when he had stopped breathing. He touches his hair that seems to be some kind of synthetic material, still styled in his preferred way. He crosses his arms and looks around the cave, noticing that he is also a bit taller.

Karybdis stares at Logan. “An automaton!” He murmurs. “Fascinating!” He then picks up the purple glowing bottle. One last transformation to go.

Virgil takes a deep breath as Karybdis brings over the last potion, and hands it to the anxious side, who steels himself and drinks it down in one gulp, like the others. “If you have another of those fairy cages, you better get it ready.” Virgil says to the mage as he hands back the empty bottle wincing at the nasty taste of the potion.

Virgil closes his eyes and the magic flows from his stomach outward, bringing pins and needles to his extremities, and a sudden cramp forces him to his knees as he feels his scalp itch as his hair grows down to his shoulders, and the pinch on the tops of his ears that signify the points they now sport. His gums begin to tingle, and suddenly his teeth are being forced out of his gums and being replaced by sharper alternatives growing in quickly as he spits out the ejected teeth. He suddenly feels like he is being squished flat as he begins to shrink. He hears the mage open his cell door and feels him carefully transfer his still transforming body to the cage. The door shuts and locks, and he catches a glimpse of Roman as he is set next to the creative sides prison.

Roman looks on as Virgil’s transformation continues. He was confused at first when Virgil told Karybdis to get another fairy cage ready, but he soon came to understand. You can’t have light without dark.

Virgil runs his tongue carefully along his new mouthful of sharp teeth, feeling his face become more angular like Roman’s. He crouches on his hands and knees on the bottom of the cage, feeling his hips narrow and his shoulders widen and the muscles on his torso become more pronounced, as he readies himself for the inevitable pain in his back signifying the emergence of his wings. His hoodie and shirt suddenly feel different on his back and the pain begins, and he arches his back involuntarily as the pain forces a shout from his throat.

Roman watches as Virgil’s back arches and his new wings emerge, curled up and a bit damp, like his was, but as the wings begin to uncurl as blood is being forced through the veins and membranes within the delicate structures, He sees that Virgil’s wings are a clear membrane with a black frame around the outer edge, and they closely resemble butterfly wings. They begin to slowly move, the magic making the wings fully functional and they slowly open and close automatically, to begin to dry the rest of the way.

Virgil stares at his hands as his nails grow sharp and tough, and he grabs the cage crossbars to help him stand up. He brushes his long purple and black streaked hair out of his now purple gem-like eyes, and is met by the sight of Roman, looking at him from his own cage, not too far away. The newly transformed light fairy looking at him with concern in his red gem-like eyes from a slightly angular, but still Roman-looking face framed by his red and gold streaked hair and with his dragonfly wings fluttering nervously behind him.

“Virge? You gucci?” Roman asks him. 

“Yeah.” Virgil answers. “But I feel like I was repeatedly hit by a bus.”

“You and me both. Welcome to the eight inch high club.” The royal side answers with a sigh.

Karybdis walks over to the two occupied cells and unlocks and opens them, letting Patton and Logan out.

“There is now no reason for the cells or cages anymore.” the mage says as he unlocks the fairy cages and props the doors open.

“Yeah, since we are being blackmailed into helping you, and can't go home looking like this, now!” Virgil growls stepping out of his cage and sitting down with his legs dangling off the work table edge. 

“Hopefully we can find the reversal agent within a minimal timeframe.” Logan adds, as he walks up to examine the two sides-turned-fairies closer.

“One can only hope.” Patton adds in his new, deeper voice, as he crosses both sets of arms across his torso, and sitting on a sturdy nearby bench with a sigh. 

“I truly regret having to do this to you all.” Karybdis sadly says. “But lives can be saved if we can get that agent.”

“Sure, but the way you go about it leaves something to be desired.” Roman adds with a glare and an unconscious buzz from his wings, as they react to his agitation.

“Nonetheless, we will begin our journey tomorrow morning.” The mage declares as he sets down a large box with a door large enough for the fairies to enter it on the work desk after setting the cages back on the floor.

“A fairy hutch?” Roman asks. “I wouldn't peg you as a guy that would actually own a fairy crash pad.” 

“I have fairy friends that stay over sometimes.” Karybdis quietly answers. “Hopefully the cots in the cells will be enough for the others. See you in the morning.” the mage says as he steps through a large wooden door that Roman hadn’t noticed before, leaving the sides alone.


	3. Talking After..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys talk post-transformation.

Logan speaks when the mage closes the large wooden door. “I can’t help but be concerned.”

“About what, Lo?” Patton asks, standing up and moving to the logical side and putting a large hand on Logans shoulder.

“What if we cannot get the reversal agent. We would be stuck like this. What would we tell Thomas? I am so far away from my comfort zone at the moment I am unsure what to think.” Logan sadly states as his glowing eyes look over to Patton’s face to find a sympathetic smile there, along with the teary eyes he expected from the more emotional trait.

“Karybdis seems confident that he will be able to procure the agent with our help from wherever it is located.” Roman says with a sigh as he paces on the work table, finally stopping and looking up at the two giant (to him and Virgil) sides.

Virgil gets up from his seat at the edge of the table, and walks over to stand next to Roman. “Don't worry, Teach, we are all thinking the same thing. Heck, I was already thinking it when Karybdis told us what he was going to do to us, before anyone even drank the potions. Kinda comes with my job.”

Logan pats Patton’s large hand on his shoulder. “Thank you for the support Patton. I appreciate it.” Patton nods with a small sniffle and takes his hand off Logan’s shoulder, and crosses both sets of arms across his torso once again.

“There is so much that I do not know about this form the magic changed me into. What is my energy source? Am I able to recharge by solar energy or by pulling the magic from the surrounding environment? Do I have a self-contained power source? The last thing I want to do is be stuck as an immobile statue, without the energy to move.” Logan says with a slight note of concern.

“We wouldn't leave you behind, Specs.” Roman softly says. “We don't know how much you weigh at the moment, but I am pretty confident Patton could carry you with one arm. He does have an impressive magically enhanced gun show going on, if you haven't noticed.”

When Logan glances over to him, Patton flexes all his arms, wiggles his eyebrows and softly murmurs “Poppa Pat’s Gun Show, oh yeah! Pew! Pew!” and accenting the last bit with simultaneous thumbs up and finger guns.

Virgil can’t help but laugh, and adds, “You will figure it out Logan. Remember, you are the smart one of our interesting little family.”

“I am not qualified to know about the anomalous quirks of the imagination, Roman is the authority here. I don’t have the first clue on how the “magic” chose these forms for us or why our “auras” had to be involved. I am not versed in magical conjecture, only cold, hard logic.” Logan states, staring at his hands and flexing his fingers, then turning his glowing eyes to Roman, who is now pacing the tabletop.

“I have studied magic in the castle library to better understand it. Whenever Thomas researches things that can’t be logically used by you, Logan, It appears in the castle’s archives. Knowing the basic magical practices helps in my quests, and has saved me from dire injury more than once. Anyway, to get back on track, he used special components and commands in the potions to force the chaos magic to stay within and to use our auras, which means our auras are some kind of container that just happens to reflect and contain our attributes, our strengths, our insecurities, even our mood. The books say the aura is attached to our internal spirit, and radiates from our bodies. Anyone with training in reading auras would be able to see them. He obviously has vast knowledge and experience in aura work. The chaos magic only needs simple commands, “Mutatio corporis, mens immutata”, “body change, mind unchanged” for the main instructions. He then personalized each of them to us with uncanny precision. This anomaly is a curious one, I will have to find a way to keep an eye on him in the future.” Roman thoughtfully muses.

“Yeah, I get what you are saying, Princey. But only 3 of our forms make sense. You and I are as close to opposites as we can be. Teach is always trying to be the epitome of logic, suppressing his emotions to a near robotic state. I am at a loss with Patton’s.” Virgil says, motioning to the large paternal side standing next to Logan.

Roman stares at Patton intensely, with a thoughtful look on his face. “With me my potion latched onto my insecurity and molded me into this. With you, it may have been the same, but your nature made you the dark to my light. Pocket Protectors potion used his actual aspirations and turned him silver, but I think Padre’s potion pulled his inner strength forward, or even his “Dad voice”, and gave it a physical form, adding his paternal protectiveness of us to it.”

“Huh.” Virgil muses, looking at Patton with a new understanding. As the fatherly side inspects his changes again with wide eyes.

“Wow.” The paternal side says. “I’m Super Dad!” while flexing his arms in a super hero pose, grinning and chuckling brightly.

Virgil chuckles. “But why did our eyes change?”

Roman sighs. “It’s the indicator that we are products of chaos magic. Our eyes change to the color of our auras to signify what changed us. Not just a regular potion or spell. Those would have left them unchanged.”

”Fan-tastic.” Virgil sighs.

“Hey! Look guys!” Patton excitedly says while holding up their picnic basket and blanket.

“How considerate.” Roman deadpans. “Covering up his kidnapping by removing the evidence.”

“I know there were some leftovers.” Patton mumbles as he rummages through the basket.

“Your hungry now?” Virgil asks as he stares at the paternal trait.

“Uh, yeah...I just went through a major magical transformation! 2 new arms, lots of muscles, and I know I am way taller than 5 foot 8 now and we don’t even know what time it is, it could be dinnertime ... Aha!.” Patton states as he finds the aforementioned leftovers. “Want some?”

Roman snorts. “Excuse me? You are not the only one who had to go through the transformation thing mister! Virgil and I lost 5 feet of height, had to grow wings and become magical creatures! Not to mention Logan’s ordeal….Are there any chips left? I do feel a bit peckish.”

Virgil opted for some chips also, and Logan politely declined to partake as the leftovers from the picnic that seemed so long ago are consumed quickly in silence.

Afterwards, Virgil yawns. “I think we should try to get some rest before morning. I have no idea what time it is, since you made us leave our phones in the mind palace, but a little rest is better than nothing. Plus, I still feel like I’ve been dragged beneath a bus.”

Roman nods. “I concur. I feel the same. We all need some time to recover. ” He begins to walk toward the fairy hutch. “Come on Virge.”

“See ya in the morning, kiddos.” Patton says, grabbing the picnic blanket and folding it to make a pillow for the floor, since he was too tall for the small cot in his former cell. Besides, he had extra arms to consider, also.

As the fairy sides disappear into the hutch, Logan moves to the bench vacated by Patton and sits down.

Patton sorts himself out on the floor and lays down, shifting a bit to get the arms in a comfy position, that hopefully won’t make them fall asleep. He hates the pins and needles of a “waking up” arm with a passion. He opts for top 2 behind his head, bottom 2 resting on his stomach. Seems comfy enough.

“I can hold your glasses for you, Pat.” Logan says, while reaching out a brushed silver hand.

“Oh! I nearly forgot! Thanks Lo.” Patton says as he takes off his glasses and sets them in the offered hand.

“Can I ask you a question?” Patton quietly says.

“Of course.” Logan replies, as he sets the paternal sides glasses next to him on the bench.

“Do you still feel?” Patton asks, looking up at the logical side intensely with his bright blue eyes.

Logan thinks for a moment. “Yes, I still feel, to an extent. I still have my emotions, at least the very few I allow myself to experience, the physical “feeling” of outside stimuli is very muted, it seems.”

“Okay. Thanks for answering my question, Lo.” Patton says with a yawn. “Goodnight”

“Goodnight, Pat. I will always answer your questions.” Logan says.

Logan sits quietly and studies his hands in his lap, flexing the fingers, turning them over and marveling at what he has become. He has experienced a magical transformation, but he does not know the limits or the capabilities of this form yet. How strong was he? What was his power source? So many more questions whirled around in his head that he hoped to answer, to understand this form better. Had he been able to, he would have taken a deep breath. But he no longer breathes, so maybe some meditation exercises to gather his thoughts and put them in order would help? Logan closes his eyes and suddenly realizes that he couldn’t listen to his own breathing, so he listens to Patton’s instead.

Inside the fairy hutch, the 2 sides-turned-fairies found quite the comfy setup once the magical lights flickered on inside. It looked just like a regular room with 2 full size beds, chairs with backs designed with wings in mind next to 2 desks, and to Romans relief, a full length mirror. “Oh, sweet mother of hair extensions! This long hair is going to drive me crazy!” Roman moans as he steps in front of the mirror to see himself for the first time. “Whoa! Red eyes!” Roman mutters at the first glance of himself.

“Uh, yeah Prince Obvious, yours changed like everyone else's, we just talked about that.” Virgil says as he sits at one of the desks. 

“I couldn’t see myself, so I didn’t know what mine looked like.” Roman muttered. As he took in the rest of the changes, hair, build and wings.”Dragonfly wings. Dignified, I think. Butterfly wings would have been too much.” Roman mumbles as he preens in front of the mirror, flexing and folding his wings flat and turning to try to see his back.

“Jeez, do you need to be alone or something?” Virgil mumbles.

“I need to know what I have to work with, Emo Nightmare.” Roman turns away from the mirror and stalks to a bed and sits down.

“Do you think Teach would have turned out different if Karybdis hadn’t put in the “keeping the mind intact” thing in?” Virgil asks, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.

Roman stared in realization at Virgil. “I hadn’t thought of that! Now I am glad I influenced him to put the command in! Specs as a possibly mindless robot is not something I could contemplate right now.” Roman involuntarily shudders.

Virgil began to look through the drawers at the desk he was seated at, and came across a large book with what looked like a writing instrument attached to the outside cover. “Check this out!” Virgil opens the book as Roman walks over to see, and finds lists of what looks like names and small notes written inside.

“Looks like a guest ledger.” Roman says. “Karybdis wasn’t kidding when he said he had fairies stay over.” 

“Do you think the next fairies to stay here would believe THE Prince Roman stayed here if you signed it?” Virgil says with a chuckle.

“Do you think they would believe that THE Lord Virgil stayed here also?” Roman adds with a small grin.

“What?!” Virgil squeaks.

“All of you are nobles in my realm, Stormcloud Emo. Patton, Logan, you. I can show you the official court documents when this is all over.“ Roman adds with raised eyebrows. “Patton and Logan already know this, I guess it never came up. Sorry about that.”

“Uh...I haven't really been into the imagination too many times, and I haven’t been to your castle, so it is understandable.” Virgil softly mumbles.

“Besides, lately the people of the realm think of you as a kind of dark protector for some reason, even though they have never seen you in person. Lord Virgil protects the realm from the darkness by Prince Romans side!” Roman grins and holds up his right hand. “I have no hand in spreading those rumors, I swear!” 

“Huh. That’s not too bad, actually.” Virgil chuckles. “I’m gonna sign it, then.”

“I will also. Let’s see if this works.” Roman mumbles as he flicks his wrist and a shiny gold pen appears in it. “I can still conjure! Excellent!” Roman grins, then proceeds to sign the next line in the ledger in red ink in his swirly, ornate way.

He hands the pen to Virgil, and before he lets it go, the pen changes to a purplish black, and Virgil nods in appreciation. He then signs under Romans name in purple ink in his meticulous print, and hands the pen back to Roman, who dismisses it with a flick of the wrist.

“I think it’s time to crash, I’m about to fall asleep, and we have no idea what time it is, since you made us leave our phones in the mind palace.” Virgil states with a sigh and a stretch, which flutters his wings, which startle him. “I forgot I had those for a minute.” He chuckles, kicking off his shoes, and moving to a bed to flop down on his stomach.

“Agreed.” Roman nods & shucks off his boots and takes the other bed. The lights automatically dim as the two exhausted sides soon begin to softly snore.


	4. Breakfast Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A realization is made.

Karybdis emerges from the large wood door quietly, to be greeted by the sight of the large light blue clad man on the floor snoring softly and the silver man sitting on a bench with his eyes closed, but they suddenly open and the mage stops when the glowing indigo eyes look right at him.

“Good morning? It is morning, yes?” The measured voice of the silver man asks him.

“Yes, it is morning, er, you must forgive me, but I failed to get your name yesterday, and I am deeply embarrassed about that.” Karybdis says sheepishly.

“Ah, yes. It was a bit of an, I guess you can say, unconventional kind of day. All things aside. Anyway, I am Logan, and the snoring lump on the floor is Patton.” The silver man says with a small gesture to the large still sleeping man on the floor.

The mage gives a small bow of acknowledgement to the silver side, and a small smile. “It is good to finally know your name, after my misdeeds of yesterday upon your person, Logan.”

Logan blinks and rises from the bench and crosses his arms. “I hold no ill will towards you, neither will Patton, because that’s just the way he is, but Roman and Virgil will be another story.”

“Yes, I may never be able to see the light of day again if his highness does not forgive me at the end of the journey.” The mage says quietly.

“Well we will see at the end of the journey and we are all back to normal again, Patton and I will plead your case if Roman still seems undecided.” Logan says as he steps over a wayward arm to stand next to the mage.

“I appreciate that, Logan, I truly do.” Karybdis softly says. He then clears his throat and continues, “Let us start preparations for the journey before we lose track of time. We should rouse everyone for breakfast.”

“Did someone say breakfast?” A sleepy voice from the floor murmurs with a yawn as Logan steps back to the bench to retrieve Patton’s glasses to hand them to the large paternal side as he rises to a sitting position, trying to stretch the kinks out of his back, and rubbing the sleep out of his bright blue eyes before slipping on his glasses. “Good morning!” Patton says with a sunny smile.

“Good morning. I’m sorry that you had to sleep on the floor, it seems most uncomfortable.” The mage says with a sympathetic wince.

“Not to worry, kiddo! I made it work.” Patton says with a chuckle while accepting an offered hand up from Logan, who pulls him up like he weighed nothing. “Whoa! And I thought I was strong now!” Patton exclaims as he gets his balance, and stretches his back out a bit more and dusts himself off. “Do you want me to wake up the little guys?” He says while pointing at the fairy hutch.

“Let me bring out the food first. I have a feeling that may hopefully subdue any hostility, as I have a feeling they are not early risers, as it is just before sunup.” The mage says.

“You would be right about that. They have never gotten up this early before, but I have caught Virgil going to bed at this time a few times.” Patton says with a chuckle.

“Alright, then. If you would be so kind to give me a hand Logan, we can get this day started.” Karybdis says while rubbing his hands together.

Logan follows the mage through the large door he had entered from, and finds himself in a cozy cottage. “Welcome to my home. Where you stayed the night is my workroom, it was safer there while your forms stabilised.” Logan follows him to the kitchen, where he hands Logan a basket, and he fills it with a loaf of bread, some smoked meats, fruit and preserves and some fresh muffins he picked up at the baker yesterday before he spotted the prince in the meadow, some utensils, plates and cups, then grabs a couple bottles from the cupboard. “Some fruit juices. Ah! And some water.” He then grabs a bottle of clear liquid. “One more thing..” The mage opens a cupboard and pulls out a box. “Okay, let’s return to the workroom.” 

They return to the workroom and find Patton doing some stretching exercises. “Just getting the blood pumping, kiddos!” He chuckles.

Karybdis opens the box he had retrieved from the cupboard, and pulls out a small table and chair set, perfectly sized for fairies. He then arranges the food on the work table, and nods at Patton, who knocks on the table, right in front of the door to the fairy hutch. “Breakfast, kiddos! Wakey, wakey! Let’s get this day started!” He loudly calls at the hutch.

Inside the hutch, the two fairy sides groan in unison. “Zeus’s beard, how can that man be so chipper in the morning?” Roman mumbles as he blinks the sleep out of his eyes. 

“Dunno.” Virgil grunts. “ I hope there’s coffee.”

“If there isn’t I can conjure some, don’t worry.” Roman says waving his hand with a yawn as he raises up to his knees from his stomach then stands up on the bed and steps off.

Roman pokes his head out of the door to the hutch and says loudly “We’re up, be out in a minute.” And closes it again. 

“I was so hoping it was a bad dream.” Virgil says as he looks at himself in the mirror. “Ugh, I’m all rumpled.” And moves to put on his shoes.

Roman slides back into his boots and tries to smooth his tunic and sash. “You are always rumpled. Rumpled is part of your aesthetic, yes?”

“Comfortable is my aesthetic, rumpled is just uncomfortable. I usually don't sleep in my clothes on purpose, but I was wiped out.” Virgil grumbles.

“Huh. Well, as a prince of the realm, I refuse to be rumpled in public, as I have a reputation to uphold. As I have said before a prince has got to slay.” Roman says as he snaps his fingers over his head, and the wrinkles disappear from his outfit and his boots gain more shine, and his hair is neatly braided on each side of his head and is pulled back away from his face to meet at the back of his head, revealing his pointed ears. “Better.” He nods his head once and looks at Virgil, adjusting his sash better to not interfere with his wings.

“Show off. But the hair thing looks good, I have to admit.” Virgil says while tying his shoes. He tries to unwrinkle his clothes manually, and manages to conjure a hair tie to pull back his hair to keep it out of his face.

“Let’s go, they are waiting.” Virgil says as he strolls toward the door, Roman following closely behind.

“Good morning, Your Highness, sleep well?” The mage asks Roman when he appears behind Virgil after the door to the hutch opens.

“Not bad. Not bad at all.” Roman replies, eyeing the table and chairs. “You must get along well with the fairies if you have some coming on a regular basis to stay with you.”

“We trade on a regular basis, we have a good relationship.” Karybdis admits softly.

Patton chuckles. “C’mon kiddos, let's eat! We have a big day ahead!” 

And with that, the two fairies sit at the table, and roman conjures a coffee carafe and two mugs, as Patton grabs some bread and begins to make a sandwich with some smoked meats. 

Virgil glances at Roman as he pours a cup for himself, then Roman. “You remembered! Thanks Princey.”

Roman waves his hand. “I am well aware how dependent on caffeine you are, emofly.”

“Emofly? Virgil chuckles. “C’mon princey.”

“It’s early.” Roman deadpans. “Wait, how early is it?” 

“Nearly sunup.” Logan replies. “I miss coffee and crofters already.” he wistfully mumbles.

“It’s the crack of dark. No wonder.” Virgil grumbles as he sips his coffee. “Cut me off some of that muffin, please Patton?”

“Sure thing, kiddo!” Patton chirps as his new arms do just that and carefully place the piece of muffin on the table.

Karybdis watches the banter between the Prince and his friends as he munches on a piece of bread with some preserves. When he had initially analyzed their auras, he noticed the differences between them immediately. 

Logan was the intellectual, coveting logic and knowledge above all else, Patton had childlike wonder and seemed to radiate morality, even when unconscious. Virgil had a anxious aura that clung tightly around him like a blanket, he could barely tell what color it was. Of course Prince Roman's aura shone with the power and colors of the sun, creative energy crackling and sparking, making the hairs on the back of his neck raise and tingle.

But on each of the men's aura over their heart, small pieces of all the other men’s auras resided, the strongest color being Virgil's purple, which seemed to coil and shift in a constant protective dance around the others. Which told him that they consider themselves family, and considering that they strongly resembled each other, and the banter between them all, he had no choice but to believe it.

Now that they were awake, the mage couldn’t help but peek at their auras again, just for curiosity's sake, and finds that each one blazes even brighter than before, which should not happen, only newborns have such bright auras. He knows the brighter auras were not made by the chaos magic changes. He surmises something catastrophic had happened not too long ago, and somehow, someway, they had been reborn anew. The protective bit of purple in their auras was the clue. Virgil had been the one to pull them back.

A stray memory popped up unbidden in the mages mind's eye. He had gone to the royal castle for prince Roman’s birthday celebration. Everyone in the realm was invited, and the atmosphere was happy and joyous. In the main throne room, during a public tour of the castle being offered to those who had never before been to the magnificent edifice, was what the guide called the “High Lords Wall.” A wall at the other end of the throne room opposite the golden throne itself, with 3 coats of arms in their own distinct colors and theme.

A light blue heart outlined in black with what looked like glasses, painted upon a large round shield. Cute painted cats and dogs seemed to play along the edge of the shield, and under the heart the word “Patton” was painted in an elegant gold script. The next shield was also round, with what looked like a stylized brain with the same glasses, painted in a dark indigo and outlined in black, and what looked like the entire table of elements meticulously painted around the edge. Under the brain, in the same gold script, “Logan” was written. The next shield was also round, and upon it was painted a purple storm cloud, complete with a jagged silver lightning bolt jutting out of the bottom. The cloud was highlighted with a purple, white, light blue and black tartan at the bottom edge of the cloud, and what looked like black, ghostly shapes swirled around the edge of the shield. The name under the cloud read “Virgil” in the same gold script as the others. An awed onlooker whispered reverently next to him “Lord Virgil, the Dark Protector.” And proceeded to bow low in front of the shield. 

The memory ends, and he looks around the work table where the others are enjoying each other’s company. His eyes alight on Patton, who is smiling happily as he pours some water into a cup. A white shape on Patton’s light blue shirt catches the mages eye. A heart with glasses. He glances over to Logan, who is standing with his arms crossed, listening to Prince Roman and Virgil chatting, on Logan’s black shirt, a white brain with glasses. The mage’s mouth suddenly went dry, and as he raised his cup to his lips, he glances down at the patch on Virgil’s jacket and catches a glimpse of a purple cloud.

And with that knowledge, Karybdis knew without a shadow of a doubt, he had just transformed the three highest ranking lords along with the prince of the realm to help him in this quest, and he better not screw up or get anyone seriously hurt or he would have to answer to not only Prince Roman, but Lord Virgil, and his mouth went dry as a desert once more. As the mage refills his cup with water, a pair of glowing indigo eyes note the mage’s reactions curiously.


	5. The Journey Begins - Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Journey Begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got big, so I had to chop it into two parts.

Once breakfast was consumed and cleaned up, the packing for the journey began. Karybdis begins assembling his travel satchel when Patton speaks up. “Can I help with anything?” The mage shakes his head. “Not with this, I’m afraid. But there will be plenty to do afterwards.” “Okay!” The fatherly side retreats, to sit on the bench.

Logan, along with Prince Roman and Virgil are the next to inquire upon him, since he is just behind the work table, at his large supply cabinet.

“You are assembling a travel satchel, aren’t you?” Prince Roman inquires. 

“Yes, My Prince. A mage is always prepared.” Karybdis replies.

“What does a mage put in his travel satchel?” Logan asks, intrigued.

“One must be prepared for the dangers of the road. I pack prepared smoke bombs, sleeping powder and sleep bombs, assorted curative herbs and potions, first aid supplies, and my extra wand.” The mage replies.

“There’s dangers on this road we’re taking?” Virgil grumbles. “Great, and I’m 8 inches tall!”

“Dark fairies are formidable creatures, even at their small stature. You need to remember that. You don’t just look like one, you are one, and have all the abilities they possess. I am sure his highness would gladly tell you what those should be, along with what he is capable of, also. Once he, and you hit the air outside, the magic will activate. You will see. This cave is shielded, so you haven’t felt anything, yet.” Karybdis explains while finishing up, tucking his spare wand in its correct pocket in the satchel.

“He’s correct, Virge.” Roman says. “I have studied all the texts in my castle library about the fae folk, everything that Thomas has learned one way or another, and I can tell you what you can presumably do, if the need arises.”

“We’ll see.” Virgil mutters.

Karybdis closes the large satchel and says, “The journey we take will last several days, so now we must pack my wagon for the road ahead.” As he uses the cave entrance to go outside to hitch up his wagon.

The next hour consist of gathering up cooking ingredients for road meals, then packing them away into a food locker on the sturdy wagon the mage had hitched up to a stout, well kept dun colored horse. With Patton and Logan happily helping, two tents, some blankets for sleeping along with the picnic blanket, outdoor cooking pots and utensils, and a couple of larger robes that had been traded for his services that fit Logan and Patton reasonably well, for a bit of camouflage if the need arose, along with a medium sized barrel full of water that Logan helped Patton affix to the correct bracket on the side of the wagon and supplemental feed for the horse.

“It is time.” The mage declares. “Patton, if you would be so kind, please put the hutch on the wagon for me.” Patton carefully grabs the fairy hutch and disappears outside to pack it on the wagon, to reappear again a moment later, and walk to his former cell, having spotted something in the corner.

“Ready, Virge?” Roman asks Virgil with wide eyes.

“I was born ready, Tinkerbill.” Virgil says with a small smirk in Roman's direction.

“Hey look! My cat hoodie! I thought I had lost it, but it must have fallen off at some point!” Patton exclaimed as he held up the now way too small hoodie, then snuggled it up to his large chest affectionately. “I can’t wear it now though, it’s too small.” He says with a pout.

But before anyone could respond, a small popping noise, like static electricity, filled the air, and the hoodie grew in Patton’s hands, gaining 2 extra sleeves in the process. “Yay!” Patton cheers as he pulls on the garment. “Purrrfect!” He adds with a quick curling of his “paws”.

Karybdis chuckles. “The garment must have stayed on long enough to be infused with a bit of chaos magic and your aura, but fell off when you were changing. You reactivated the magic by touching it to your body. All I can say is that chaos water is very thorough when someone's aura is concerned.”

Roman clears his throat. “Are we going to get this show on the road, or not? The less time I am 8 inches tall the better!”

The mage rubbed his hands together. “Yes! Let us depart! Who do you want to take you out to the wagon, Your Highness?”

“Patton.” Says Virgil. “Awww! Thanks kiddo!” Patton says with a smile as he gathers up the anxious fairy side.

“Specs can take me.” Roman says as he walks over to the logical side and is carefully picked up in silver hands.

Everyone files out of the cave to the waiting horse and loaded wagon, and Patton sets Virgil down on top of the fairy hutch inside the wagons bed. “You can ride up front, Lo. I don’t mind.” Patton says as he settles into the back of the wagon.

Logan deposits Roman next to Virgil. “Alright.” And climbs onto the front seat of the wagon with little difficulty.

Karybdis closes the cave door tightly, and takes out his wand from the special pocket in his sleeve, points it at his dwelling, and says clearly “Protego Totalum!” and a slight white light glows around the structure for a moment.

Virgil leans over to Roman and mutters from the side of his mouth, “Um, did he just use a Harry Potter spell?”

“Indeed he did. Thomas loves the books, remember. Of course some aspects would make it into my realm. I think there's an actual spellbook.” Roman says with a small wave of his hand.

“Huh.” Virgil says as Karybdis climbs into the driver's seat and picks up the reins and calls out, “Let's go Jasper! Hup!” and snaps the reins to start the sturdy wagon moving.

Virgil settles on the edge of the hutch, but then lets out a pained groan and nearly falls off, as he grabs his head in obvious pain.

“What’s going on? Roman! What’s happening?” A concerned Patton asks as he holds two hands under Virgil to catch him if he fell off.

“I don’t….Argh! Roman shouts as sounds, smells, even his sight explode with sensory overload, and he drops to his knees and holds his head. He had forgotten, fairies have sensitive hearing, smell and sight. And he is now being painfully reminded. He forces himself to concentrate on a single thing, Patton, who was muttering “Oh no, what do I do!” Over and over in a slight panic. Roman concentrates on only Patton’s voice, bringing it to the forefront, pushing everything else back, until the pain subsided a bit, and took a deep breath.

“It’s okay, Padre. Just a little sensory overload. I had forgotten about fairy senses being very acute, and the work room was well shielded and dim, but outside is...a different story.” Roman says between deep breaths. “I need to help Virgil, now. Make sure he doesn’t fall. Keep you hands under him.” Patton nods with a tinge of relief as Roman moves to help the anxious trait.

Virgil’s brain is overloaded with all the sounds he hears. The birds chirping and fluttering about, the wagon creaking, the puff of wind swishing the grass, small creatures skittering about in the undergrowth, the creaking of trees in the wind, vague voices in the distance, he was sure he was going crazy. But a new, familiar sound was trying to get his attention. “—rgil? Can you hear me?” Roman. Virgil latched onto Roman’s voice and pulled it toward the front, drowning out all the other sounds. “Virgil? Come on back, concentrate on my voice, good! You can make it! Don’t forget to breathe.” 

Breathing. Another trial in itself, with every breath he was being assaulted by smells all around. Horse, pine tree, amber, cedar wood, the herbs in the food locker, dust, chocolate, cut grass, old books, coffee, black pepper. He latched onto the strongest smell, which was a sweet floral smell with a fruity tone Virgil couldn’t place.

Concentrating with all his might on the floral smell along with Roman’s voice in his ear, Virgil’s pain subsided, and he was able to finally concentrate.

“Virge, are you back with us?” Roman asks.

“Ugh, yeah. That was….unpleasant.” Virgil mumbles.

“Sorry, That was my fault. I should have warned you about our new senses, but it slipped my mind.” Roman says as he sits next to Virgil.

“It’s going to take some getting used to.” Virgil admits as he takes another deep breath. “Do you realize you smell like jasmine? And…oranges? There seems to be a touch of vanilla too.”

Roman is taken aback for a moment. “Well that’s only common sense that the creative one smells like scents that clear and invigorate the mind, don’t you agree, Patton?”

“Oh, yes! Absolutely! What do I smell like?” Patton asks with wide eyes.

“Let me get on your shoulder, Pat, and I will find out.” Virgil says.

Patton happily complies, and giggles when one of Virgil’s wings brushes against his ear. “That tickles!” 

“Still gotta get used to these things.” Virgil mumbles. “I say we start to learn how to fly when we stop for lunch. We have the things, we should learn to use them.”

“Agreed.” Roman nods.

“Now back to what I am on your shoulder for, Patton. What do you smell like. Let’s see. Milk chocolate is the strongest, followed by...cinnamon? There’s a “green” type of smell…cut grass! You smell like milk chocolate, cinnamon, and fresh cut grass.” Virgil says thoughtfully. “You also slept on the floor last night, because I can smell the dust of the floor on you.”

Patton chuckles. “Yup! That’s pretty cool! What about Logan? What does he smell like?”

Logan glances back from the front seat of the wagon. “I do not need to know what I smell like, Patton. It is hardly relevant anyway.”

“Aww, come on Lo, it’s not like we have anything else to do until we get to where we are going, anyway.” Patton says with a small pout.

“Very well.” Logan says. “You do have a point. If you must know, then go ahead.”

Patton helps Virgil back down onto the hutch. And Virgil looks at the silver logical side. “You smell like your room. Old books and black coffee, with a slight hint of peppermint.”

“Wow! That’s so you, Lo!” Patton gushes. “What do you smell like Virge?”

“I can’t smell myself, Roman’s going to have to take that one.” Virgil says.

Roman stands up and strolls around Virgil’s body, pausing to take a close sniff now and then, to finally stop and declare, “dark chocolate and raspberry. With a touch of citrus, not sure which one though, but I am leaning toward lemon.”

Virgil looks at Roman with raised eyebrows. “Really, Princey?”

Roman touches his nose with a finger. “The nose knows, Stormcloud Swallowtail.” 

Virgil rolls his eyes and chuckles. “Okay, good one. Why don’t you take Karybdis, I’m sure Patton wants to know what he smells like too.”

“Let me answer that for you, as my fairy friends have informed me in the past about how I smell to them. Cedar, Amber, and touch of freshly turned earth.” Karybdis says.

Virgil nods thoughtfully. “Your friends are right. Interesting.” Suddenly, he sneezes, which makes the large paternal side squeal and giggle.

“Sorry. There’s this black pepper tinge that is just driving my nose crazy.” Virgil sniffles, with a small smile to the still giggling Patton.

“I smell it too, it is quite annoying.” Roman adds, with a scrunched nose.

“That may be the smell of the chaos magic that transformed you.” Karybdis says. “It should dissipate some, now that you are outside, but when we run into fairies, they will smell it immediately.”

“Ah, we are going at least as far as the Fairy Wood, good to know.” Roman declares. “If that happens, you are going to have to hide, Virge. Dark fairies will be killed on sight!”

Virgil’s eyes get big and he swallows thickly. “Yikes! You will warn me when we get close, won’t you?” 

“I will give you plenty of time to hide, when the time arises.” Karybdis assures Virgil.

“Anyway, I believe it is time to tell you what you are capable of, Glasswing Emo.” Roman says as he sits on the edge of the fairy hutch.

Virgil sits next to Roman. “Yes, please do. I’m dying to find out.”

Roman continues. “Alright, first things first. We are more durable than we look. Padre, you don’t have to worry about hurting us, we can take quite a licking and keep on ticking.”

“Thank goodness, I was so afraid of squishing you!” Patton mutters.

“We are also very nimble, and are able to dodge attacks with ease, can fly, since we grew wings when we transformed, we can also make very vivid and very convincing illusions, we have very acute senses of smell, hearing, and sight, as you now know. It was written in the books I studied that it is rumored that all fairies can communicate with animals, and have telepathy. And those are the shared attributes.” Roman says thoughtfully. “Oh, wait. One more shared.” As Roman flicks a wrist and a glittering red dust shimmers down, “Fairy dust.”

Virgil rubs his fingers together and a fine, purple glittery powder floats down from his hand. “Great.” Virgil sighs.

“It’s got its uses, Virge. Mine will help me with my healing and healing damaged plants, and the defensive part of fairy dust, if you are being attacked, you can use your fairy dust to get away by aiming for the collar of the shirt and hitting it with dust. They will itch so badly you would be able to get away.” Roman adds. “Of course, it is also used as a spell ingredient.” As Roman looks up at Karybdis, arching an eyebrow as the mage wisely watches the road ahead.

“Okay, that has merit, I suppose. Are there any others?” Virgil says while fiddling with the strings to his hoodie.

“Yes, there are the more “specific” things that we each can do due to the nature of our change. Such as only I can “heal” with my dust. You know, wounds, broken bones, cure diseases. I can also “channel light and nature” and make it into a ball, like a grenade, or a full-on blast of kinetic energy, that is said to knock an attacker back and/or out. I have also read that light fairies can also manipulate plants for defensive purposes, like grow vines to grab and entangle, and thorns to puncture.” 

“Okay, what do the books say that I can do?” Virgil asks.

Roman raises a finger. “You can merge with shadows and move between them and also do the dark version of the “light channeling” thing, except with shadows. You can use them as a grenade to blind, or the kinetic blast, at least that is what the books said.”

“Interesting. Thanks for the info, Princey.” Virgil says thoughtfully. “Have any idea on how we can do those things? I have no idea how to uh, “activate” them.”

Roman becomes lost in thought for a moment. “Let’s try something, Virgil. Cup your hands in front of you like you are holding a ball, and I will do the same.” Virgil cups his hands in front of him, and sees Roman copying him. “Okay. now close your eyes, and clear your mind. Then think of what you need to fill your hands with. In my case, it would be light, yours, shadow.”

Virgil closes his eyes, and clears his mind. He thinks of shadows, dark and cool, filling his hands and forming a ball. He hears a sharp intake of breath from Patton, and opens his eyes to see a baseball sized shadow ball swirling in his hands. He looks over at Roman, and sees a light ball in his hands, the same size.

Roman then stands up, and looks quickly for a target. “That large stump we are coming up on.” The royal side says. “Let’s see if we can hit it.” Virgil stands up and spots the stump. Looks easy enough. “Okay.”

Virgil holds his ball at the ready, and Roman does the same. The stump comes into range and Virgil throws the ball with normal force, but when It touches the left side of the stump, it blows a chunk of wood off, and dissipates. Roman’s light ball takes off part of the right side of the stump, and dissipates as well. Patton cheers and claps all four of his hands.

“Impressive start.” Roman states, with a nod.” A good defensive weapon, just in case. Don’t forget the other abilities too. Something may come in handy before we are able to get to the reversal agent.”

Virgil nods. “Good point. It’s a lot better than being totally helpless. Thanks, Roman.”

“Don’t mention it Emo Purplewing. My dabbling in magic has come in handy on occasion on many a quest, this one proved to be no different.” Roman says with a pat to Virgil’s shoulder. “I think the key will be willing the ability to do it’s thing. You just have to practice!”

And with that bit of encouragement, Virgil does just that. For the rest of the morning he practices making shadow balls of different sizes, but his favorite size is marble size. He quickly learned to flick them at pine cones and rocks with impressive accuracy, making objects bounce away seemingly at will. 

Roman, on the other hand, while Virgil is practicing his shadow ball accuracy, slips into the fairy hutch to practice in private. He wants to practice another ability besides the light balls, and with a few hours practice, he is seeming to get the hang of it, but it is still not quite right. He feels the wagon stopping, so he peeks out the door to the hutch. “What’s up?” He asks Patton. 

“Stopping for lunch.” Patton says with a happy smile. “I’m gonna make friends with the horse.” He says as he hops off the wagon to stretch his legs and grabs an apple from a nearby tree.

Karybdis nods. “Jasper loves apples. You will be best friends in no time.” He says as he reaches down from the driver's seat and opens the food locker.

As the fatherly trait slowly walks up to the stout, powerful horse, offering the apple, Jasper seems unsure of the large human, but sees and smells the treat in his hands, and all fear is forgotten as he plucks the apple from Patton’s hands and munches happily, making Patton giggle and clap his hands in happiness.

Roman climbs to the edge of the wagon and takes a look at the surroundings. The mage has pulled the wagon into a pleasant shaded area off the main road, complete with firepit and logs for sitting, some lush grass for the horse to browse while they eat their lunch, a couple apple trees, and a small, clear stream. 

Roman nods in approval. “Nice place.”

Karybdis nods. “Thank you, Your Highness. It is one of my favorite camping spots, but we are just using it for lunch. There is another spot up the road a ways that we will be stopping at for the night, and since we have the rest of the day to get to it, we have plenty of time to get there.” He says as he gathers some bread, meats and cheeses from the food locker.

Virgil climbs up next to Roman on the side of the wagon. “We gonna try the flying thing?”

Roman stretches his shoulders and his wings unfold from his back. “Yep. Let’s see if we can fly to one of the logs over there next to the firepit.”

Virgil nods, then stretches his shoulders also, making his wings flutter in response. “Lets see what we can do.”

Roman had just picked which log wanted to go to before his wings came to life, and before he knew it, the surprised royal was hovering over the very log he was aiming for. He then decided to fly over to Logan, who was helping Patton gather a few apples, and before he could finish the thought, he was landing on Logan’s shoulder, startling the silver logical side. “Sorry, Specs. Didn’t mean to spook ya.” Roman says.

“It was just a bit, unexpected. It seems you have mastered flying, then?” Logan says.

“Seems that way.” Roman says. “How are you doing?”

“The upside to this form is that I am not feeling the discomfort of sitting on a hard seat for hours. I also seem to be operating at maximum efficiency, for the lack of better wording. I don’t think my power source is diminishing.” Logan thoughtfully says as Patton adds four more apples to the bunch already in the cat hoodies’ large front pocket.

Patton chuckles. “That should be enough for us and Jasper! Let’s go put them in the food locker.” Roman flies back to the log he went to in the first place, to find Virgil there, waiting for him.

Virgil crosses his arms. “How’s Teach doing?” 

“He seems okay, all things considered.” Roman says, sitting on the log, watching Patton and Logan pile the freshly picked apples into the food locker.

Roman’s thoughts were interrupted by Karybdis calling everyone over to have lunch, so he flies over to the log where the mage had set up the food. Patton came over with a couple of apples, upon which the mage cut into pieces for everyone to enjoy.

“You guys sure learned how to fly pretty quick! I think that’s great!” Patton grins, munching on a piece of apple as he takes off the cat hoodie, stuffs the lower sleeves into the large front pocket, and ties it around his shoulders. 

“It seems all I had to do was pick where I wanted to go, and I would go there.” Roman shrugs. “I didn’t think it would be that simple.”

“It would seem that the flying was instinctual. But it was wise to wait until we were stationary, just in case of a mishap.” Logan adds, joining the group.

“That was the plan.” Virgil says as he grabs a small pre cut sandwich.

Roman accepts an offered piece of apple from Patton. “The less mishaps on this little quest, the better.”

“That is my fervent hope also Your Highness. From your lips, to the divines’ ear.” Karybdis says, unaware that the only being that had any semblance of control of the realm was eight inches tall and completely powerless to influence anything of note until he was back to normal.

Roman mused quietly as they finished lunch, packed any leftover food back into the food locker on the wagon, and began their journey anew.

Roman flew to stand on Logan’s leg, to talk to the mage driving the wagon. “When are you going to tell me where and what this reversal agent is?” He asks.

The mage thinks for a moment. “When we are closer to its location, Your Highness.”

Roman huffs and crosses his arms, but doesn’t say anything. He looks in the back of the wagon and sees Virgil asleep on Patton’s folded cat hoodie, and Patton also napping on a picnic blanket pillow. Might as well stay where he is, he doesn’t feel like napping.

“You mentioned fairies earlier, does that mean we really may go as far as the Fairy Wood?” Roman asks.

“Possibly, Your Highness. I have a good reputation with the fae folk, their scouts may report my proximity, and we may be visited by a few of my friends.” The mage says.

“I have always wanted to reach out to the fae, but I couldn’t seem to be able to get together with any that came to my castle. Most likely due to the bias of my staff at the time. I’m not entirely sure they were permitted to come near me, much to my embarrassment. I have since replaced the bigots in my staff with those of an unbiased view, but the fairies had not returned, even after my brief....hiatus.” Roman says carefully.

Karybdis ponders a moment. “Perhaps your form will help facilitate relations, Your Highness, even if they do not recognize you, there still may be a way to start the process.”

“Possibly.” Roman muses.

“I noticed at breakfast that you had a physical reaction to something you had noticed about each of us, you blanched, and seemed to need immediate liquid refreshment.” Logan interjects.

“Oh, I peeked at your auras once more, to gauge your overall health.” Karybdis nervously states, having not even noticed when Logan looked at him at breakfast.

“But you saw something that elicited an uncomfortable response. One does not go pale if the news is good.” Logan prods further.

“I would have to agree with Silver Specs. You saw something. If it is something serious, you must tell me immediately. My aura reading is spotty at best. What did you see? Don’t make me pull rank.” Roman says while standing rigidly on Logan’s leg.

The mage fidgets with the reins, inexplicably intimidated by the 8 inch prince. “My Prince, all of you are f-fine, your auras were bright, alm-most too bright, I s-saw that you all were close friends, nay, family, as the clustered pieces of each others’ auras ab-bove your hearts had shown me. It w-was a revelation I had afterwards that had made the reaction L-Logan witnessed.” Karybdis stutters, sweating under Roman’s red-eyed piercing stare.

“A revelation, you say? Do tell.” Roman prods, raising his eyebrows while crossing his arms.

Karybdis sweated under Roman’s scrutiny, attempted to form words with his lips, but unintelligible stutterings emerged instead. He glanced at the logo on Logan’s shirt, and fidgeted more with the wagons reins, clearing his throat nervously.

Roman, watching the mage like a hawk, follows the gaze at Logan’s shirt, and his eyes widen. “You have been to the castle, haven’t you, and have seen the wall.” He states.

“Y-yes, My Prince.” the mage stammers. “D-during your birthday celebration.”

“And you realized who you had forced to help you with your quest. Besides me.” Roman adds.

“Yes, My Prince.” Karybdis murmurs. “My shame is unfathomable.”

“I am at a loss here, please enlighten me.” Logan interjects, confused.

“After we “upgraded” our looks, I painted 3 large shields with yours, Patton’s, and Virgil's new logos and hung them up in the throne room. Since you all are nobles in my realm, I figured it would be a nice addition to the room. When the tours on my birthday come through, they call it “The High Lords Wall”. Since you all rarely visit the castle proper, the people wouldn’t know you from adam, unless they have seen the wall with the logos.” Roman explains.

Logan touches the logo on his shirt with his right hand. “Ah, now I see, you didn’t know who we were, other than friends of Roman, until you saw our emblems.”

“Yes, M’lord.” the mage murmurs.

“Such formalities are not needed.” Logan says, waving a silver hand. “Roman is the authority here, we are occasional visitors. Just Logan is acceptable in my case.” 

A loud yawn is heard from the back of the wagon. “Just Patton is good for me, kiddo.” Patton says, stretching all his arms out, and grinning a sunny smile.

Virgil lands next to Roman on Logan’s leg and stares up at the mage, and points to himself. “Just Virgil. No M’lord or any other fancy stuff.”

“Noted.” Karybdis says with a nod and a small smile.

“Did I hear you say that our auras were “almost too bright”? What does that mean, exactly.” Virgil asks with raised eyebrows.

“Oh, yes..very bright auras are usually what newborns have.” Karybdis states.

Roman narrows his eyes. “What...oh! Uh, yes. That is a personal and closed discussion.” Roman gives Virgil a look that the anxious side immediately understands, and he nods knowingly.

“Yes, My Prince.” the mage says with a nod.

The rest of the day proved to be uneventful, other than a small issue with a wheel, and when Patton lifted the fully loaded wagon with one arm to help with repairs, he seemed a little excited, as evidenced by the huge smile plastered on his face, at his strength.


	6. The Journey Begins - Evening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second half of the first day.

When the time came to finally stop for the night, the mage pulled into a pleasant clearing with a firepit with stump seats around it. No apple trees at this stop, but they still had plenty from earlier. Karybdis hands the tents over to Logan, who puts them down in what he considers an effective configuration, with plenty of room between them, facing the firepit, and with the help of Patton, sets them up quickly in the waning light, with plenty of time to scrounge some firewood up from the surrounding forest before it go too dark.

The mage turns from his task of unhitching Jasper upon hearing footsteps approaching. “Ah, Patton. Do you need help with the fire? I can whip up a quick fire cantrip to get it going.”

“No. The kiddos seem to be doing okay.” Patton says while glancing back at the firepit and seeing a small fire had already been started, and Logan was adding wood to make it bigger. “I was just wondering if you needed help with Jasper.”

“Of course! There is a small spring over next to that boulder.” The mage points to a boulder not too far away from the campsite. “You can grab that bucket there and get some water. I only use the water in the barrel if there isn’t any fresh available.”

“Sure thing! Be back in a jiffy!” Patton says with a smile as he grabs the bucket and walks toward the boulder happily.

Patton quickly returns with the water and the mage shows Patton how to tend to Jasper, giving him water, and his feedbag, since the grass was sparse at this campsite, and brushing him down, and hobbling him next to a sturdy tree near the tent the mage had claimed as his for the trip. As the finishing touch, the mage covers Jasper’s back with a sturdy blanket. “There. All set for the night. Thank you for the help, Patton. You are an animal lover, which is a fine quality.” The mage says, giving Patton a pat on an arm as he joins the others at the fire to finish getting the evening meal ready.

Patton smiles at the praise, and decides to check out the inside of the tent, just to claim a reasonably comfy spot inside. When he walks through the flap, he is greeted by a fully furnished room, complete with two huge beds, already lit glowing lanterns, a table and chair, and a chair with plush cushions, and his jaw drops to the floor. “Oh my gosh! It’s a magical tent! That’s so COOL!” He squeals, which causes Virgil and Roman to fly in, thinking the fatherly trait was in some sort of distress.

“Wow!” Virgil says, eyes wide as he takes in the spacious digs. “More Harry Potter influence?”

“It would seem so.” Roman states. “That table right there seems perfect for the fairy hutch.”

“I was thinking the same thing, let me go get it.” Patton exits the tent to fetch the hutch from the wagon.

Logan enters the tent and blinks a few times in surprise. “This is quite the accomodations.” He simply says.

Patton returns and sets the fairy hutch on the table.. “There we are.” He claps his hands enthusiastically. “This is exciting!”

Roman lands on top of the hutch. “Remember, Padre. This is a serious quest we are on here.”

Patton sighs, looking at his arms. “Yeah, I know. Just trying to make the best of it.”

“Nothing wrong with that.” Virgil states as he lands on top of the fairy hutch. “Hey Patton, what do you call cheese that isn't yours? Nacho cheese!” 

Patton giggles and responds. “Hey Virge, I wouldn’t buy anything with velcro, it's a total rip-off!”

Roman flies over to Logan's shoulder, and as the large paternal and fairy anxious sides giggle uncontrollably, he rolls his eyes and sighs. “Odin's eyepatch! What is with you two?!” 

Virgil wipes tears from his eyes. “Come on, Princey. It was bound to happen. This is just another day at the office for you, but for us this is a new experience. We are on a frickin’ road trip in the imagination, changed by magic. We have wings and are 8 inches tall! Patton is 6 foot 5, has four arms and can probably bench press the wagon, for pete’s sake! Teach is 6 foot 3, silver with glowing eyes! This isn’t a dream, we are stuck like this until we can get the reversal agent, wherever the heck it is, and you basically are powerless to control anything right now. We are at the mercy of Thomases imagination, and a mage that lives in the aforementioned imagination, actually recognized us as lords due to our logos! We are due for a bit of hysterics right now, or we will all go crazy.”

Roman blinks and draws a breath to speak, but is interrupted.

“What happens to illegally parked frogs? They get toad.” Logan says then covers his mouth with his hands as everyone stares at the silver side, stunned, and suddenly Patton begins to snicker, which sets Virgil and Roman into giggle fits, which makes Roman lose his footing on the logical sides shoulder, complete with comical pinwheeling of his arms, and he plummets to the carpeted floor of the tent with an odd squawk, seeming to forget that he can fly, which makes Virgil and Patton laugh even harder. Roman, who is now on the floor of the tent, next to Logan’s feet, laughing hysterically, holding his stomach can only lay there, wheezing for air.

Patton was the first to recover enough to be able to talk. “Are you okay Roman?” He says while wiping tears from his eyes and trying to catch his breath.

“Only thing bruised is my ego.” Roman says as he stands up and dusts himself off, still sporadically giggling as he flies up to stand on the top of the fairy hutch, next to Virgil, who is wiping away tears with the sleeves of his hoodie.

“You were right, Painted Shadowling. We needed that.” Roman says while putting a hand on Virgil's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

“I just figured if I was stressed out about all of this, being anxiety and all, I would think everyone else was the same way to varying degrees. I just wanted to break the stress, or we would lose it eventually.” Virgil states as he catches his breath.

“I have no idea where that came from.” Logan states, confused, as he lowers his hands from his mouth.

Roman chuckles. “It was probably an unconscious agreement with Virge, Specs. We all needed a bit of stress relief. I feel so much better now.”

“Me too!” Patton grins. “Wow, whatever Karybdis is making out there sure smells good!”

Virgil and Roman sniff the air and are pleased to smell quite a delicious smell coming from outside the tent.

“Whatever that is, it does indeed smell wonderful, and just about done.” Roman states as he flies over to Logan’s shoulder, and Virgil flies over to Patton as they exit the tent to the firepit area outside.

“Ah! Your Highness! The evening meal is almost done. I hope you like it!” the mage happily says while stirring the contents in a cooking pot over the fire. “It’s my special road stew, perfect for eating under the stars! I always have some pre-prepared ingredients ready for a quick meal.”

“It does indeed smell wonderful.” Roman says as he lands on the stump next to the mage.

“You're too kind, My Prince.” the mage says, but adds in a low voice for just Roman to hear, “I wouldn't tell Lord Patton what the meat is..” and the mage mouths the words “fresh rabbit" and pulls his wand slightly from his sleeve. And Roman nods in understanding, glancing over at Patton, who is at the wagon, pulling out the bowls and spoons to eat dinner with. No need to have Patton mourning any imaginary fluffy bunnies right now.

Patton returns to the firepit, having even found some fairy-sized eating utensils and bowls. The stew is consumed, and deemed quite delicious, as evidenced by the three helpings Patton ate before finally saying he couldn't possibly eat another bite. Logan, having no need to eat, just sits on a stump and tends the fire until everyone is finished.

Everyone sits around the firepit, quietly staring into the flames after the dinner bowls are rinsed out and stowed away. Roman is the first to break the quiet. “How did you find out about the reversal agent, anyway?”

“My Prince, I was privy to the information through the Mage’s Collective, a network of mages that trade information with each other about rare spell components and such. I learned of the reversal agent from an extremely reliable source. I swear to you this was not done in vain.” The mage states emphatically.

“I should think not. The castle mage should have been privy to this information also, yet I received no missives from him with this information. I insist on having every reversal agent possible at the castle in case of dire need. How recent is this new information?” Roman asks.

“I have known about it for a month, Your Highness.” the mage says as he produces a pipe and tobacco pouch from a pocket in his robes, taps it upside down on the stump he is sitting on and packs the bowl.

“Hmm..plenty of time to have been able to learn the information himself, and informed me one way or another. I have been to the castle only twice this month, and no notes at all from him. I would hate that he is not as respected in the mage community as he should be being my resident mage.” Roman mutters. 

“Foley is greatly respected, Your Highness, but to be to the point, It has been rumored that he has been ill for many weeks, as the last time he was seen was last month.” Karybdis states, puffing smoke circles with his pipe smoke.

Roman blinks. “I will have to look into that.”

While Roman and the mage talk, Virgil makes his way over to the logical side, who is poking the fire listlessly with a stick. “What’s the matter, Teach?”

“Hmmm? Oh, nothing of consequence, Virgil. I am just over my head with the magic talk. I am not used to seeing what Roman sees everyday. Just still contemplating my transformation. Am I still me? I am at a loss for answers.” Logan wistfully says.

“You are still you inside there, Logan. You haven’t gone anywhere. Your form may be different at the moment, so is everyone else's! But we are taking it one day at a time and working on getting back to normal. It hasn’t been that long since my ordeal in the subconscious, when after it was done, you and Princey came to get me. I don’t plan of failing here either, if we work together it will happen.” Virgil states confidently.

Patton shifts on the stump next to Logan’s and with a large hand pats the silver logical sides shoulder. “We are a team, Lo. We can do it by working together, like Virge says.” The fatherly side sighs heavily. “Though I sure wish we had some ingredients for s'mores. It’s not a campfire without s’mores.” Patton picks up his own stick to poke the fire with.  
Logan stared into the fire for a moment, and then looks at Virgil, standing on his leg. “I am being selfish by lamenting my own predicament when everyone else is suffering exactly the same as me. For being the smart one I sure am being uncharacteristically dense.”

“It’s allowed.” Virgil chuckles.

Roman lands on Logan’s other leg. “We should think about turning in. Our quest continues tomorrow, whether we like it or not.”

Karybdis adds. “I have fully warded the campsite, so any brigands will not be able to bother us tonight.”

“Brigands?” Patton asks, wide eyed. 

“Robbers, thieves. Scum of the earth.” Roman answers. “There is a small chance that we will encounter some. If that's the case, we will deal with them post haste! Do not worry, Padre.”  
Patton’s wide eyes seem to glow in the firelight. “O-okay.” The fatherly side mumbles nervously, as he makes his way to the tent with the other sides.

Inside the tent, Patton sits on a bed and takes his shoes off, wiggling his toes in relief. “Much better!” he sighs. Logan sits in the chair next to the table as the two fairy sides land in front of the fairy hutch. 

“Goodnight, Pocket Protector, Super Dad. See you in the morning.” Virgil says, as he opens the door to the hutch.

“Goodnight, Roman. Virgil.” Logan replies, While Patton chuckles at the nickname. “Goodnight kiddos. Sweet dreams.”

The two fairy sides enter the hutch and close the door, while Patton stretches his limbs and yawns. “Boy, for not doing a heck of alot today, I sure am tired. It was mostly sitting in the wagon!”

“Well, at least tonight you have a bed instead of a hard floor to sleep on. The floor in the workroom could not have been comfortable.” Logan replies.

“True. The bed will help tonight. Why don’t you use the other bed?” Patton asks.

“I do not need to sleep in this form it seems. I spent last night meditating, which seemed to pass the time adequately.” Logan replies.

“Oh.” Patton murmurs. “Why not use the more comfy looking chair then?”

“I do not need comfort either. I spent the day sitting on a hard wood seat in a wagon, but I do not feel any ill effects. I am fine, Patton. Do not worry.” Logan replies softly.

“Okay...Goodnight, Lo.” Patton says, laying down on the large bed and getting comfortable.

“Goodnight, Pat.” Logan murmurs, as the large paternal side settles and closes his eyes.

Logan listens to Patton’s breathing until it slows, and soon after, small snores emanate from the large side as he surrenders to sleep. The logical side stands up, and walks up to a wall mirror he had noticed on his first look around the tent.

He stands off to the side, deliberating. Does he really want to see what he looks like? All that he has seen is his hands and arms and glimpses of his hair, the rest is covered by his clothing. Does he want to look this form in the eyes? Logan stands next to the mirror, deliberating, until he comes to a conclusion. He has to see what the others see when they look at him.

The logical side steels himself, then steps in front of the mirror. 

The glowing indigo eyes are the first thing he notices, behind glasses that are stuck to his face with no lenses, the magic had corrected his eyesight, it seems. He brings a hand up to his cheek, where he sees that it is not totally smooth, but have single thick and thin embossed lines that run horizontally along both his “cheekbones” and drop straight down an inch from the sides of his mouth, making a 90 degree angle. His mouth is a series of intricate segments that make him able to talk with an expressive mouth, and he is startled to see that he has silver teeth in his mouth when he “smiles”. His hair is a stiff, dark material that he cannot identify, along with his eyebrows. His ears are human-like, but silver. Around his eyes and on the sides of his nose seem to be a slightly darker color silver than the rest of his face, to give depth to his features.

Logan touches his cheek, but only hears the slight rasp of metal on metal. He doesn’t feel the touch. He can’t feel hot or cold, he doesn’t feel sore from sitting on a hard bench seat in the wagon all day. He doesn’t feel any outside stimuli at all. He doesn’t like it, it feels too close to not having a body at all. He’s “been there” and “done that” and he still has the troubling dreams as a result. He didn’t realize how tactile dependent he had become. He needs to get back to normal, so he can feel the warmth of his favorite NASA mug filled with coffee, feel the crisp pages of a book as he turns them, feel his tie as he ties it in the morning, taste his Crofters jam and coffee again. Small things he already misses. He stares at himself in the mirror, then looks down at his hands, like he has done all day, and opens and closes them for the thousandth time and contemplates his circumstances again. He can’t help it. Perhaps it is a blessing that his eyes cannot produce tears, with the sadness that wells up within him, unbidden.

A low voice speaks from the bed, startling him. “It is temporary, Lo. We will get back to normal. All we need to do is work together.” 

Logan walks back over to the chair he vacated, and sat down. “I’ll remember from now on, Pat. Thank you.”

A low hum of acknowledgement is heard from the bed as the fatherly trait settles back to sleep.

Logan closes his eyes and listens to Patton’s breathing, to begin the meditative exercises he did to pass the first night after the change, not noticing the glint of purple and the fairy hutch door close silently.


	7. On the Road Again...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just travelin' and talkin'. Princey gets called out, nightmares are revealed.

Just before sunrise, Logan hears the mage outside the tent and goes out to greet him.

“Good morning, Karybdis.” Logan says as he steps from the tent.

“Ah, good morning, Logan. I am thinking that we do not need to wake His Highness or Virgil this morning. We can simply move the hutch to the wagon and let them wake as they normally would.” The mage says, while stirring the coals in the fire pit.

“Sounds acceptable. Should I wake Patton? Logan asks.

“Not yet, let me get the fire going. I will need to boil some water for breakfast.” Karybdis says as he adds kindling to the glowing embers he found under the ash in the firepit and waits for it to catch before adding larger pieces of wood, and in no time, it is good enough to boil water on. While waiting for the water to boil, the mage gives Jasper water and his breakfast, taking the blanket off his back and stowing it away.

Logan rouses the large paternal side, and soon after, the mage and Patton are enjoying some porridge by the dying fire as Logan begins to break camp, starting with the mage’s tent. After the breakfast bowls are cleaned and stowed, the mage shows Patton how to hitch Jasper back up to the wagon, and lets him give the sturdy horse a couple of apples as a treat, upon which makes the large moral side giggle and clap his hands with happiness.

The fairy hutch is carefully transferred to the wagon and put on top of a couple of blankets to soften the bumpy ride as the other tent is taken down and stowed on the wagon. After dousing the remaining coals of the fire with water, the wagon is once again moving towards their goal.

Virgil awakens to the smell of coffee.

The anxious side looks over to Roman, who is sitting at one of the desks, reading the guest ledger, coffee cup in hand, a carafe and another mug nearby.

Virgil yawns and gets up and shuffles over to the desk, pouring a cup of coffee and taking a sip before trying any type of communication. “Morning.” He mumbles as he sits in the chair at the other desk.

“Good morning, Emo Nightmare,” Roman says, glancing up from the ledger. “Need any breakfast? I can conjure something up if you want.”

“Naw. The coffees fine, thanks.” Virgil says with a yawn. “They didn’t waste any time getting on the road.”

Roman chuckles. “I guess one of the perks of being travel-sized is that they can let you sleep in.”

Virgil walks over to the door and pokes his head out. “Good morning, Super Dad.” he says as he props open the hutch door for some fresh air, and sees Patton outside.

“Good morning, kiddo!” The large paternal side says with a chuckle. “Karybdis said to let you guys sleep, I hope that was okay.”

“I’ve got no complaints, it’s much appreciated.”Virgil says with another yawn and a wave, and takes another sip of his coffee and returns to the chair. “Something interesting in the ledger?”

Roman looks up from the page he was studying. “Yes, it is quite interesting. The fairies that would stay with the mage would write notes in here, either to each other or as memory aids, possibly both.”

Virgil raises his eyebrows. “About what?” 

The royal side scratches the side of his head with a finger. “Me, apparently. It seems they have been trying to get an audience with me for some time. But I have been away, or uh, otherwise occupied elsewhere. If I had known this, I would have happily scheduled one. But I see most of the attempts are before I replaced the bigots in my staff, and they seem to be few and far between afterward and during my...uh..unwilling abdication, they seem to completely stop, until what they have called “The Gloom” disappeared, and I was back to my royal duties. There seems to have been only two more attempts to contact me since my return, but I had been away both times. There are also brief notes on what my scent is and the color of my aura. I can’t say they weren’t thorough” , 

Virgil stands and goes to refill his mug. “Why haven’t you been around the castle more? It’s been months. This is your realm, you are the caretaker. If you aren’t around to supervise things, stuff goes pear-shaped, as we well know, since we are now 8 inches tall with wings.”

Roman winces. “I admit that I have been neglecting my duties, since the proof is in our current predicament, but I don’t know why, to be honest. I think I am avoiding something, or someone..I’m drawing a blank. it’s just a feeling whenever I walk into the castle, I just want to go back to the mind palace for some reason. And the feeling is fueled by the unpleasant dreams I have been having since I returned. I just don’t know.”

“Okay.” Virgil nods, while drinking the last of his coffee, setting the cup down, then tying his shoes, “We are going to have to figure out why you haven’t been doing your Thomas-given responsibilities within the Imagination now. Hopefully we can kill two birds with one stone with this quest. Plus, you are not the only one having nightmares. Logan is having them too.”

“How do you know that?” Roman asks, raising his eyebrows.

“That telepathy thing in the books you read seems to be true.” Virgil says with a sigh. “I “heard” Logan’s thoughts last night as he was looking at himself in a mirror in the tent. I didn’t mean to, I was just watching him, until I heard that he was having “troubling” dreams. It was in his voice, but he wasn’t talking out loud. It startled me a bit.”

“Huh. That’s something to contemplate.” The royal side says thoughtfully. “I wonder if Patton is having nightmares as well.”

The anxious side shrugs. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard Pat say anything about bad dreams since he came back, but I don’t think he would admit it, though.”

“No, I don’t think he would, since it took me this long to admit it myself.” The royal side thoughtfully adds. “I think it is time to go outside. I need to practice my light balls anyway.”

“Alright.” Virgil agrees, as he steps to the door and flies out, to land on Patton’s shoulder. “Hey, Super Dad!”

“Hey, kiddo!” The large side chuckles. “Did you sleep well? I hope the last pothole didn’t bounce you out of bed.”

“Naw, I woke up on my own, no pothole bouncing needed.” Virgil chuckles. “How did you sleep? Looked like you had a more comfortable bed than the workroom floor last night.”

“Yeah. The bed was great!” The large fatherly side lowers his voice to a whisper, “But it looks like Lo is having a hard time.”

“Yeah, I know, I was watching him last night, he has nightmares, you know. So does Roman. Do you? I need to know, so we can find a way to stop them.” The anxious fairy side murmurs.

Patton fidgets. “Not as often as I used to.”

Virgil’s eyebrows rise. “What would the nightmares be like? Maybe Roman and Logan are experiencing the same type.”

Patton glances down at the fairy hutch, noticing the hutch door was closed, and over to Logan, who is chatting with the mage in the front of the wagon, and takes a deep breath. 

“I am following you around the mind palace, trying to talk to you, but you can’t see or hear me, I feel so sad, I know what you are going through, but I can’t touch you to comfort you. I see you walking through the commons with such a sad look on your face. I am heartbroken. I follow you into my room, and you seem to be looking for something. You find a light blue glowing thing in a box on a shelf, and I suddenly feel a stronger connection, so I just say “Miss ya kiddo!” and you seem to hear me, and answer me! That’s when I usually wake up with tears streaming down my face, and an ache in my heart.” The paternal side says in a choked whisper, tears beginning to well in his bright blue eyes.

Virgil blinks back his own tears, and uses a sleeve to wipe the few that escaped down his cheeks. “I wish I could hug you right now, Pat, I really do.”

Patton wipes his face, and smiles. “I wish you could too, kiddo. Rain check? When this is over, the minute we are back to normal.”

“Deal.” The anxious side says with a smile. “You said you don’t have them as often now. It’s only been a few months. How?”

The large paternal side thinks for a moment. “I try to remind myself that I can now be heard again, and seen, and felt, that the dream is not real, before I go to bed. It’s kind of a mantra I say to myself before I go to sleep. It seems to work.”

“Good advice, I may steal it to help the others. Personalized of course, to whatever they are dreaming.” Virgil thoughtfully mutters. “You are stronger than you let us believe, Dad. This proves it.”

Before Patton can reply, the fairy hutch door opens and Roman emerges. “I thought you said that you had to practice your light balls.” Virgil snarks at the royal side.

“Excuse me! I was giving you a bit of privacy! Plus, I had to put myself together. Do I have to keep reminding you that I have an image to uphold, even in the middle of nowhere? You don’t know who you are going to run into out here.” Roman primly says as he lands on the top of the hutch. Plus he was not about to mention that he was practicing an alternate ability, and looked to be getting better at it.

Virgil rolls his eyes. “Whatever, Princey.” He says with a chuckle and a wave.

The fairy sides practice the rest of the morning, and become exceptionally good at blasting pinecones and small rocks from the back of the wagon, with Patton cheering with each successful hit. They finally stop when the mage stops for lunch at another pleasant campsite, with Jasper happily munching on some lush grass as they have lunch at a makeshift table, constructed of a large stump with large rocks arranged around it, courtesy of Patton and Logan.

While everyone was enjoying lunch, Logan wandered around the site, and returned to the pile of boulders that he and Patton found the rocks to place around the large stump, and picked up a baseball-sized rock in his hand. “Granite. Comprised of pink feldspar, white feldspar, quartz and biotite and/or hornblende.” Logan says. “A sufficiently hard substance to test my hand strength with.” He begins to squeeze the rock, and it explodes in his hand. He opens his hand and watches the remains of the rock fall to the ground as he murmurs, “Satisfactory. I wish there was some bedrock, though. That is much harder. But not as hard as diamond. That would be a true test.” He crushes a couple more rocks before rejoining the others at the table, who are in the process of finishing and packing up.

“Got some impressive hand strength there, Bionic Nerd.” Roman says as Patton dusts off Logan’s hand with a cloth napkin, tutting about getting dirty without any way of washing clothes.

“I would be remiss in my duties as Logic if I didn’t try to do some kind of experiments before we are returned to normal. Moving the rocks to the stump was phase one, the hand strength test was phase two.” Logan says, reclaiming his hand from Patton, adjusting his tie, and beginning to walk to the wagon. 

Virgil smiles at the familiar gesture. “He seems to be getting better, that is the first tie adjustment I have seen since this thing began. He spent lunch time staring at his hands yesterday.” He murmurs to Patton and Roman as he watches Logan help the mage repack the food locker. “Let’s load up, guys. The road awaits.” Virgil sighs.

Several hours later, when Karybdis had just announced that they are close to the campsite they will be stopping at for the night, their luck ran out.


	8. Bumps in the Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bump in the road is revealed. An ability is hurriedly used, with a slight consequence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Blood mention, character injury

A shrill whistle pierces the early evening air and a band of eight dirty, unkempt men surrounded the wagon in an instant, with the “leader” and one other man on the driver’s side of the wagon, one on logan’s side, and the others around the wagon, with two at the back.

The fairy sides, having retreated to the hutch with the door propped open, feel the wagon suddenly stop, and the unfamiliar voice call out.

“What the hell?” Virgil mutters, as he moves to the door to peek outside, only to see Patton sitting with his bright eyes wide with terror, and hands up as if someone is holding a weapon upon him. Roman joins him at the door, and they hear a voice calling out to the mage in the driver's seat.

“Hold up there, traveler! This is a toll road, and you must pay the toll! No exceptions!” The “leader” shouts with a smirk.

“This road is a public thoroughfare, as decreed by Prince Roman himself, brigand!” The mage shouts back.

“Prince Roman is rumored to be dead, mage. He hasn’t patrolled these roads in months. The crossbows leveled at you and your passengers may or may not be coated with poison on their bolt tips. Do not make me shoot anyone to test that.” The “leader” growls.

Virgil and Roman hear the exchange and look at each other with wide eyes. “This is the first time I have heard of my “death!” Roman whispers. “No wonder the fairies stopped coming around, they thought I was dead!”

“We can’t go out there and say, SURPRISE! He’s not dead, but a fairy. It would be suicide.” Virgil whispers back. Virgil peeks around the doorframe once more, to see Patton looking at him with wide, frightened eyes once more. “How many?” he mouths to the paternal side. The bright blue eyes flick around for a moment, and the lower arms flash 6 fingers quickly. “Six, but there may be a couple behind us he can’t see, so about eight, maybe more hidden in the trees.” Roman mutters next to Virgil.

“We are outnumbered, and they have weapons. But we have magic on our side.” Roman says. “Get ready, Purple Emostreak, it’s about to get interesting. I hope I can pull this off, thank goodness I have been practicing!” And with that, Roman pulls one of the chairs near the door, and sits, takes a deep breath, and concentrates, as the confused anxious side looks on.

The two bandits at the back of the wagon force Patton to get out at crossbow point and stand with his hands up as the “leader” gives the mage his ultimatum. “Pay the toll or big boy here gets hurt.”

Karybdis is about to reply when galloping hoofbeats are heard, and suddenly, a figure, dressed in white, with a red sash across his chest, riding a large white horse, appears, brandishing a sword, howling at the top of his lungs, in a booming, familiar voice. “Brigands! Criminals! Thieves! How dare you accost law-abiding citizens! I will throw you in the dungeon and throw away the key! Scum! Villains! Taste my steel!”

Logan, who has been still as a statue, sees the bandit nearest him turn white and step a little too close with the sudden commotion, and, knowing a diversion when he hears one, in one fluid motion, the silver logical side grabs the front of the robbers shirt, and tosses the hapless thief over to the other side of the wagon, to land on the “leader” and the man standing next to him, and they hit the ground in a tangle of limbs and curses. Logan stands up and turns, to witness Patton grab the two men next to him and knock their heads together with one set of arms, and take the crossbows away with the other set and toss them to the side.

The “leader” of the robbers, having pushed off the man who had landed on him stands up shakily, and is suddenly aware of the white dressed, sword wielding figure bearing down on him, turns white when he recognizes the figure. “Prince Roman! He’s alive! Let’s get the hell out of here!” He screams, turning tail and running as fast as he can into the forest, not waiting to see if any of his men are following or not.

Karybdis, taking advantage of the commotion, pulls out his wand and shouts what sounds alot like “stupefy!” at a brigand he sees perched in a tree, and the bandit falls to the ground. Crossbow bolts are let loose as bandits pull the trigger as they flee in panic, buzzing through the air like angry bees, the mage hearing a couple clang off of Logan’s metal torso, and one bouncing off of his hurriedly cast shield spell, he stares wide eyed at the white clad figure brandishing his sword howling epithets, chasing the remaining robbers until they disappear into the forest, most likely not going to stop until they fall from exhaustion, and recognises the full size human form as the figure turns the horse and rides toward the wagon.

A human Prince Roman rides up to the wagon, and salutes with his sword, then shimmers and vanishes.

A soft, pained “Oh, dear.” is heard, and when the mage and Logan look at Patton, all they see is the crossbow bolts sticking out of the front of his right shoulder and the right side of his chest, blood beginning to stain his polo as the large paternal side winces in pain “I shoulda ducked, I think...quack.” The wounded side groans. “PATTON!” Logan shouts, jumping off the wagon, and rushing to Patton’s side.

Inside the fairy hutch, Roman groans and falls out of the chair, seemingly unconscious. The anxious fairy side is startled by the shout from Logan, and quickly wrangles the royal onto a bed, and goes out to see what had happened.

Patton holds onto the wagon, gritting his teeth and hissing in pain, as the logical side and the mage stand on each side of him, trying to keep him upright. 

“Oh, no! Didn’t that robber guy say the bolts may be poisoned?” Virgil moans, not liking seeing the moral side in such pain, as he lands on the top of the fairy hutch.

The mage says calmly “Patton, you need to get into the wagon. I can’t help you until you do.” Karybdis then turns to Virgil. “Yes, he did say that. I need to look at the wounds to assess if they were.” As Patton painfully climbs back into the wagon, and lies down, groaning.

“Logan, I will need you to pull the bolts out. If they are poisoned, the less time they are in his body, the better.” The mage calmly states while grabbing his travel satchel.

Logan climbs into the wagon and picks up a bolt that had bounced off the mage’s shield spell, and examines it closely. It is crudely made, nothing like the metal barbed monstrosities the real world offered. He should be able to extract the bolts from Patton without too much more damage. He grabs the one in the large paternal sides shoulder, softly murmurs “Sorry, Pat this is going to hurt”, and with a quick, precise yank, pulls the first bolt out, pulling a yell from the wounded side, then moves to the next one embedded in the right chest, and quickly does the same, murmuring apologies. Patton yelps once more in pain, and Logan accepts bandages from the mage to put pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding.

Karybdis checks Jasper for wounds and seeing none, heaves a sigh of relief. He climbs up into the driver's seat. “We are not far from where we were going to stop for the night. We need to get there and set up camp, so Patton can be more comfortable, and I can assess his wounds better. How is His Highness?”

“He collapsed, but I was able to get him into a bed.” Virgil says as he stares at Patton with purple eyes wide with worry.

The mage snaps the reins to get the wagon moving at a brisk pace. “He most likely exhausted himself. He just needs rest.”

“But won’t we need Roman to heal Patton’s wounds?” Virgil asks as he lands on the seat next to the mage.

“If the bolts were poisoned, his healing magic will not work. I need to pull the poison out of the body first with a series of poultices. The wounds need to be open for that. The most common poison robbers use is nasty, unless I pull most of it out, it won’t respond to the antidote. Luckily, I have the antidote and correct herbs for the poultices in my travel satchel, so I can help Patton as soon as possible. His Highness can rest in the meantime, until his healing is needed.” Karybdis quickly explains.

It seems like an eternity before the wagon pulls into the campsite. A tent is quickly erected, the other can wait until later. Patton is helped into the tent by Logan, and laid on the large bed inside. Virgil is beside himself with helplessness, as his best friend lays on the bed, in pain, as he lands on Logan’s shoulder after Patton is settled in the bed and his shoes pulled off and his glasses are set on the table nearby.

“I need to see the wounds.” Karybdis says as he enters with his satchel. He pulls out his wand and with a flick of his wrist, Patton’s polo disappears, leaving the large moral side bear chested, the only slightly bleeding wounds visible. The mage inspects the wounds carefully, and sees the telltale sign of jagged, black lines radiating out from around the wounds about two inches, telling the mage that the bolts were indeed poisoned.

“I don’t feel so good.” Patton groans. The mage puts a hand on Patton’s forehead. “He’s running a fever. Some of the poison must have gotten into his system. Logan, I need you to get some water from the small creek nearby, use the bucket from the wagon. We need it.” 

As Logan turns to leave the tent, Virgil takes off from his shoulder and flies to the headboard of the bed, purple eyes wide. “Is he going to be okay?”

Karybdis nods while pulling out ingredients from his satchel. “Yes, he will recover. I just need to get the poultices in place. I also will give him a sedative to make him more comfortable.” He says while pulling out a small bottle and giving it a quick shake. “Open your mouth, Patton.” the mage calmly says, and the large moral side obeys, and the mage pops the cork on the bottle and upends the contents into Patton’s mouth, and closes it with a hand on his chin. “Swallow. When you wake up you will feel better.” The mage softly says to the moral side as Patton swallows the potion, and makes a face. “Yuck. Why do potions always taste awful?” He mumbles, and quickly falls asleep, face still pinched in discomfort.

Logan returns with the needed water, and the mage soaks a rag he pulls of his satchel in the cool water, wrings it out, and lays it on the large paternal sides forehead. The mage then quickly goes to work, putting the poultices together with a practiced efficiency letting both sides know what he is doing every step of the way, which Virgil and Logan appreciate.

After they are put together, the mage warms the damp poultices bundles with magic, and lays them on the wounds. Patton sighs and his face relaxes to a more peaceful look. “All done. He should sleep deeply until morning. His size was a great asset, as the small amount of poison that did make it into his system will not cause anything else other than the fever. If he was his normal size, it would have been worse. I will check them in the morning and make fresh ones. It shouldn’t take more than two applications to pull it all out then I can administer the antidote to take care of the rest.”

Logan turns to leave the tent. “We should set up the rest of camp.” 

Karybdis nods. “Agreed. I will help you and also set up the wards, even though the bandits are probably still running, one cannot be too careful.”

The other tent is set up, the fairy hutch is transferred to the table, and Virgil can see that a fire has been lit outside from his seat on the pillow above Patton’s head, as the anxious side holds vigil over the paternal side as he sleeps.

Logan enters the tent and walks over to flip the cloth over on Patton’s forehead, causing the paternal side on the bed to emit a small sigh. “You should check on Roman. I will tuck Pat in.” 

Virgil enters the fairy hutch and checks Roman. “Still out cold. Wish I could have seen what you did to make you conk out. I was too terrified to look out the door.” The anxious side murmurs as he pulls off the royal sides boots.

Virgil kicks off his shoes and flies back out to the bed, this time landing on Patton’s large muscular chest and sits down. Logan is still fussing with the bed covers. “Don’t worry about the covers, he’s running a fever, remember. He will just kick them off.” The anxious fairy side says quietly.

“Yes, you are correct, Virgil, I just am just at a loss on what to do now.” Logan murmurs. “Is Roman okay?”

“He seems to be. Just still out cold.” Virgil sighs as he lays a hand flat on the moral sides chest. “I hate seeing him hurt.”

“As do I. But he is in good hands.” Logan says as he lays just just the thin top sheet over the wounded moral sides legs, and rewetting the cloth from a deep bowl that had replaced the bucket at the bedside table and laying it back on the paternal sides forehead carefully. He then leaves the tent, leaving Virgil alone with the wounded side.

Virgil lays down on Patton’s muscular chest and sighs as he hears and feels the moral side’s heart, and falls asleep to the comforting sound and sensation.


	9. Temporarily Stationary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton's wounds are healed. Roman's nightmares are discussed.

Roman floats within a confined space, flowing like smoke, greyness all around. He bounces against what he knows is an oaken door, but he cannot flow through it or under it, access completely cut off from the incorporeal side. He feels a pull, creativity being accessed, and he dimly sees a human virgil enter the room, looking around, as if on a mission. Creativity is happy to see the side, looking well, and when a red glow on the pommel of a decorative sword catches the eye of Virgil, who walks over and takes hold of it to unscrew it from the sword. Creativity feels a stronger connection to the missing piece of itself within Virgil, which causes a simple “Outstanding!” to flit through Creativity. Virgil murmurs “Hiya Princey.” then leaves the room, leaving the disembodied side to once again flow listlessly about the room, until the scene goes white.

Roman flees from place to place, seeing nothing but blurs of color, seeming to be running from something. A pair of green eyes flash above him, and he hears a woman’s voice calling out to him, but he keeps running, not listening to what the voice has to say, panic and desperation driving him on.

 _Romanromanromanromanroman_ ….the voice echoes, but he doesn’t listen, or slow down. He covers his ears as he keeps running.

“ROMAN!!” The voice yells in his ear, and he wakes with a start, blinking in confusion until he gathers his wits, remembering where he was. The fairy hutch. And it seems that they have made camp. He has no idea what time it is, but he looks over at the other bed and notices that Virgil is not in it. 

Roman groans, still feeling a bit drained, but crawls off of the bed anyway, noticing that his boots have been taken off as his feet hit the floor of the hutch. Grabbing his boots, he pads over to one of the chairs, and slides his boots back on his feet with a yawn. He then stands up, steps in front of the mirror, and of course, makes himself presentable before moving toward the closed door. 

Roman opens the door and steps out, but the sound of soft humming stops him cold. He looks toward the bed and sees Patton, laying down shirtless on the bed, with Virgil sitting on the large paternal sides muscular chest, humming softly to the unconscious father figure. The song sounds familiar, so it must be Disney, so he stays quiet to not interrupt the anxious side as he begins to sing in a soft, pleasant voice, although Roman is sure he heard him open the hutch door. 

_When you rush around in hopeless circles_  
_Searching ev'rywhere for something true_  
_You're at the age of not believing_  
_When all the "make believe" is through_

_When you set aside your childhood heroes_  
_And your dreams are lost up on a shelf_  
_You're at the age of not believing_  
_And worst of all you doubt yourself_

_You're a castaway where no one hears you_  
_On a barren isle in a lonely sea_  
_Where did all the happy endings go?_  
_Where can all the good times be?_

_You must face the age of not believing_  
_Doubting ev'rything you ever knew_  
_Until at last you start believing_  
_There's something wonderful..._  
_Truly wonderful in you._

_You're at the age of not believing  
And worst of all you doubt yourself_

_You're a castaway where no one hears you_  
_On a barren isle in a lonely sea_  
_Where did all the happy endings go?_  
_Where can all the good times be?_

_You must face the age of not believing_  
_Doubting ev'rything you ever knew_  
_Until at last you start believing_  
_There's something wonderful..._  
_Truly wonderful in you._

Virgil ends the song with a sad sniff, and softly calls out, “Good morning, Princey. I’m glad you are okay.”

Roman flies over to the bed, and finally seeing Patton’s poultice-covered wounds, he lets out a gasp and his hands fly up to his mouth as he lands on the headboard. “Oh, no…I didn’t do that, did I? What happened?” He says with wide eyes blinking back tears and a sick feeling in his stomach.

“I’m not blaming you, it was the idiot robbers with hair-triggers and poisoned ammo. I’m sure they haven’t stopped running since whatever you did scared them off.” Virgil says with a hand on Patton’s chest. “Karybdis says he will be okay, though, after he knocked him out with a sleeping potion last night.”

“Good to hear, but I can’t help but feel partially to blame, since it was my rushed plan that caused his injuries in the first place.” Roman says as he wipes tears that had escaped his eyes off his face with a hand. “Where’s Logan? Is he okay?”

“Teach is fine. A couple of bolts actually bounced off him, leaving holes in his shirt. He was not happy about that. He’s outside with Karybdis. And without your plan, I don’t know what would have happened, possibly something even worse.”

Karybdis enters the tent with fresh poultices in his hands. “Good morning, My Prince. I see you have recovered.” He says as he checks the wounds, nods with satisfaction, then puts the fresh poultices on while checking the large moral sides temperature and rewetting and replacing the cloth on his forehead. “Just a bit longer, and I will be able to administer the antidote. Since we are needing to stay here for the moment, I plan on going to the village not too far from here to pick up a few supplies. It shouldn’t take me more than 4 hours to do so.”

The royal side nods. “Yes, I know the place. It is not too far, and that is plenty of time. Besides, we are perfectly safe here, you wards are up, are they not?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The mage nods. “I will be on my way, then. The quicker I can get this errand done the better.” As he strolls out of the tent, and soon they hear the wagon leaving.

“Good morning, Roman.” Logan says as he enters the tent and sits a water filled bottle on the table and sees the royal fairy side on the headboard of the bed. “I have to say, what I saw of your distraction yesterday was quite impressive.”

The royal side blushes. “It was out of desperation and pure blind terror that I was able to hold it for as long as I did.”

“I didn’t see anything, I was terrified in the hutch the whole time.” The anxious side grumbles and crosses his arms.

“You didn’t? Let’s remedy that, then.” The royal side says as he closes his eyes for a moment, then opens them then looks over Virgil’s shoulder. “There ya go.”

Virgil looks over his shoulder and is greeted by a full sized, human Roman standing by the bed, smiling down at him. The anxious side stares wide-eyed then turns back to the real royal side on the headboard.

“Just imagine him on a large white horse, waving a sword and yelling. That was the whole deal. It was what I could come up with on the fly, and it seemed to work.” Roman sighed. “But I didn’t count on the villans having hair triggers, and Padre getting hurt.”

“Would I be correct in guessing that you have been practicing this ability in case we are unsuccessful in finding the reversal agent?” Logan says as he looks at the illusion closely.

“You would be correct.” Roman says as he dismisses the illusion and it shimmers and fades away. “I would need a way to “keep up appearances” in the castle if we cannot get to the agent. Of course, it would do me no good in the mind palace. I'm just planning a worst case scenario solution for “just in case", even if I still have full confidence in our success.”

Virgil, since he was sitting on Patton’s chest, felt before he heard the groan that emitted from the large paternal side as he gained consciousness. “I thought he said I would feel better. It still hurts.” The large moral side moans as his bright blue eyes open to find everyone gathered around the bed, and Virgil on his chest.

Logan grabs the bottle of water he had brought in earlier. “Do you need something to drink, Pat? I have some water right here.” Patton nods the affirmative, and Logan helps Patton take a drink from the bottle without upsetting the poultices, as Virgil moves to a nearby pillow. 

“Thanks so much, Lo.” Patton smiles, then winces when the wounds pain him. Logan rearranges and fluffs the pillows and helps the large moral side shift a bit on the bed to a position that does not interfere with the poultices, but he is sort of sitting up, so he can talk to everyone without being flat on his back. Logan hands him the water bottle. “You need to keep hydrated. Your fever seems to be going down, but you still have one.”

Roman flies over and sits on a pillow that Patton is using to elevate his wounded arm. “I am truly sorry for your pain, Padre.”  
Patton smiles at the royal side. “It’s not your fault, you didn’t know what was going to happen, so I am not holding a thing against you. Once the nasty poison is out, you can heal me good as new. Hey, Lo, can I have my glasses?”

“Absolutely.” Logan says as he retrieves Patton’s glasses and hands them to the large paternal side.

Virgil stands up and flies to the pillow where Roman settled. “There is something we need to nip in the bud, since Karybdis is gone for a bit this is the best time since we have privacy. I know you all are having nightmares. Patton has already told me what his was about, and I know you two are having them also, I am assuming they are from when you were incorporeal.” Virgil looks at Roman and Logan with a withering stare.

Logan is the first to respond. “I haven’t dreamt since we changed, since I do not sleep in this form, but I am confirming your assumptions on my part, anyway, at least when I was able to sleep.”

Virgil sits on the pillow. “Okay, Teach. Thanks for your confirmation. Roman?”

“It starts out that way, but that is not the troubling part.” Roman fidgets next to Virgil on the pillow.

“Continue.” Virgil prods.

“The troubling part is I that I am running from something, and I hear someone calling my name. I am running in a blind panic, and just keep running. Then someone shouts my name in my ear and I wake up with a start. I don’t know who or what I am running from in that dream, which is concerning.” Roman states tiredly.

“Huh.” The anxious side murmurs. “We should make it one of our priorities that we find out who this mystery person is in your dream, Princey. If they are the reason you are neglecting the imagination, they need to be found and dealt with. To stop the other dreams, you and Logan can use what Pat has done to pretty much stop his. Remember and say to yourself before you go to bed that you can be seen, heard and felt. Hopefully it helps.”

Both Logan and Roman agree to give Patton’s remedy a try, and they all spend the rest of the time waiting for Karybdis to return telling their individual stories on what happened when they were incorporeal, since they had been completely avoiding the topic for months.

Patton seemed to be the most mobile, being able to go into the commons, while Roman was stuck in his room and Logan was able to access the mysterious corners of the mind, where he found the information he needed after a methodical search that began the moment he realized that he had lost his human form.

Patton and Roman stare at Logan in bafflement. “You found the way to bring our forms back? How did you let Virgil know what to do?” The royal side says with a bit of awe.

“He came to me in a dream, after I had fallen asleep in his room.” Virgil adds. “If he didn’t tell me about the shards, you wouldn’t be here today.”

“The glowing thing in my room I see you get from a shelf in my dream, that was my shard, wasn’t it?” Patton quietly says.

“And I see you unscrew a glowing piece from the pommel of one of my decorative swords over my fireplace.” Roman thoughtfully adds. “That must have been my shard. What were they, exactly?”

Virgil thinks for a moment. “They were pure essences of your attributes. They helped with your re-formation, along with help from Thomas. I initially thought that they were destroyed after you re-formed, but I think that they just re-appeared in their hiding spots afterwards.”

“How do you know that?” Logan says as he re-wets and replaces the cloth on the fatherly traits forehead.

“I know where to look in my room, and I have seen mine glowing.” Virgil says matter-of-factly.

The rest of the conversation is silenced when they hear the mage’s wagon pull into the campsite.

Karybdis enters the tent shortly afterwards. “Ah, you are awake! How do you feel?” He says as he checks the large moral traits temperature. “Still a bit warm, but it seems the fever has gone down.”

Patton gives the mage a pained smile. “The wounds still hurt, and I feel kinda bad from the fever, but otherwise okay.”

The mage checks the poultices, and notes that the black tendrils around the wounds have faded to just dim outlines, pulling a smile from the serious mage. “It is almost time for the antidote, then His Highness can heal the open wounds good as new.”

Patton brightly smiles. “Good to hear.”

“By the way, Your Highness, while I was in the village, it seems that one of the brigands had made it there sometime last night, and while I was there the whole place was buzzing with excitement about your “sighting”. They were genuinely happy to know that you had been seen out and about.” The mage says as he rummages in his satchel.

Roman nods. “I would believe that. Since the robbers thought I was dead, I would think that would be the unfortunate common belief.”

The mage pulls out rolls of bandage material. “ I think Patton will benefit from some fresh air. I have brought some lovely meat pies from town, and it is lunch time. Some food would do him good.” The mage says as he begins to secure the poultices to Patton’s shoulder and chest by wrapping the material snugly around the large moral side, also making a temporary sling for the affected right arm.

They enjoy a lunch of meat pie around the unlit fire pit, and afterward, Logan and Patton, after the large moral side claimed to feel much better after eating, gathered firewood in the surrounding forest (he still had three good arms, he cheerfully pointed out), and also gave the mage a hand with tending to Jasper.

Some time later, the mage proclaims that it was time to check the poultices once more, and unwinds the material and removes the poultices to expose the open wounds, the black tendrils completely gone from around the outside, the mage proclaims that it was time for the antidote. The mage pulls a bottle out of his satchel and gives it a shake, looking at the reluctant large moral side with raised eyebrows. “You want to have the wounds healed, don’t you?”

Patton winces. “It probably tastes awful, like the others.” The paternal side says as he takes the bottle and drinks the potion down, making a face in disgust. “Yep. Ugh..” Patton quickly takes a drink of water afterwards, still making a face in disgust. “Ew, I can still taste it. Ick!” The moral side sticks his tongue out in distaste.

Roman chuckles along with Virgil. “That should be the last potion you will have to drink, Padre, until the reversal agent, anyway. As soon as I get the okay from Karybdis, I will heal you up, good as new.”

“It should only take a short time to take care of the rest of the poison in his system.” Karybdis says, rinsing out the bottle and replacing it in his satchel. “When his fever disappears you can heal the wounds.”

After 20 minutes, Patton’s fever was gone, and soon afterwards, the large moral side was laying on the bed, waiting for Roman to heal his wounds, with Logan curiously watching, this being his first chance to see “magical” healing.

Roman takes his boots off in the fairy hutch, and flies over to the paternal side, waiting patiently, landing on his chest. “Okay, Padre. I’ll do the shoulder first. Then the other. Stay still.”

The royal side moves toward the shoulder wound, and holds his hands over it, and begins to rub them together, causing his gold and red fairy dust to fall into the wound. It begins to glow, and then the wound closes quickly, without even a scar. Roman does the same for the other wound, and soon you couldn’t tell that there were any wounds at all. ‘“There we are, Padre. Good as new.” As the royal side returns to the hutch to put his boots back on.

“Fascinating.” Logan murmurs, as he hands Patton his cat hoodie, and stops a moment to let Roman land on a shoulder.

“Thank goodness, thanks, Lo.” Patton says he accepts the hoodie and pulls it on.

“You can’t keep Super Dad down!” Virgil says as he lands on Patton’s shoulder, causing the moral side to giggle.

Everyone exits the tent to find Karybdis beginning to place wood in a pyramid shape in the firepit, and points his wand and mutters a word, causing a spark to jump from his wand to the kindling in the center, starting a fire quickly.

“We will resume our travels tomorrow, after a bit of rest. It should only take three more days to reach our destination.” Karybdis says as he adds wood to the fire, and sets up the tripod for the cooking pot, so he could prepare the evening meal later.

“In a day we will be close to the Fairy Wood.” Karybdis continues. “I fully expect to be visited by some fairy friends, since I have the utmost confidence that the rumors of His Highness being sighted will have reached even that far. News travels fast, especially good news.”

Virgil fidgets on Patton’s shoulder. “Thanks for the heads up.”

The royal side, still sitting on Logan’s shoulder, flutters his wings. “I have been thinking, and I don’t really think that you should hide, Streaked Emo. We all basically smell of chaos magic, so we can automatically claim that we are all victims of the magic. Just don’t make any threatening moves towards them, and you should be fine. Just follow my lead.”

“What about the telepathy thing? Wouldn't they be able to easily read our minds, y’know, since they are actual fairies, not magically changed ones only a few days old?” The anxious side says with a hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Roman stares into the fire in thought. “The books I read weren't entirely clear on the subject. One said fairies could only read the minds of those that are close to them, as in family or close friends. The other books just listed it as a thing fairies could do, no elaboration whatsoever. It was very frustrating.” 

“In any case, you need not worry.” Karybdis interjects. “They are a reasonable people. The smell of chaos magic should be enough to stop any harm towards your person.” 

The rest of the day and into the evening was uneventful as they all chatted amicably around the fire, had the evening meal, and retreated to the tent to sleep.


	10. Anxiously Bored

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bored musings of a dark fairy side. And the Fairy Wood draws near.

Virgil was bored. After waking up again in the hutch with the wagon already in motion for an unknown amount of hours, and just sitting around in the hutch held zero appeal. Roman was sitting at the desk drinking coffee and reading the guest ledger again. The anxious side didn’t blame him, it’s probably the most interesting thing around right now. He silently cursed the fact that his phone was left in the mind palace, but then realised it would probably be dead by now anyway, so he would be just as bored even if he had it. Virgil sighed.

Being eight inches tall sucked. He couldn’t help with setting up camp, or even packing the wagon to get back on the road. Or even help gather firewood when they do make camp. The dark fairy side took a bit of comfort in the fact that he was not alone, that the royal side was basically in the same predicament as he was. At least they could fly. That was a perk.

But, being hopelessly addicted to Patton’s magical dad hugs after he brought them back, needing at least one a day, he is going through major withdrawals. But he has to wait a couple more days to hopefully get back to normal and get the hug he so desperately craves from the moral side. He has no choice but to wait patiently.

Covering a yawn, he puts on his shoes and laces them tight, and sits back in the fairy chair, wings fluttering unconsciously as they extend out the backrest. But there was one more thing that niggled at the edge of his thought processes. When he swears he heard Logan’s thoughts as the silver logical side looked at himself in the mirror. He hasn’t been able to replicate it since, of course, he had no idea how he did it in the first place. Maybe he is trying too hard. He was just watching Logan quietly when Logan’s voice popped into his head. Maybe he just needs to relax, and see what happens. He hasn't even tried the “moving through shadows" thing he was supposed to be able to do. He just isn't motivated to try it. 

 

Virgil smirks. Yeah, he could totally relax. He is ANXIETY for pete’s sake. That is the exact opposite of being relaxed. There is always a low hum of tense nervousness that settles into his head and body and keeps him on edge, and feeds his nightmares. It’s part of his job. His cross to bear. He’s used to it, and sometimes, can harness it to add to the fight or flight reflex. And as they get closer to the Fairy Wood, the more nervous he gets. 

When the time comes he hopefully would be able to latch onto Roman’s confidence and desperately try to not pass out from fright as he curls up as small as possible into his hoodie, as the threat of a painful death awaits him if they don’t convince the resident fairies of their complete and utter sincerity, smell of chaos magic and magic changed eyes aside. But he had to admit, they make a pretty odd looking group.

Four magically changed individuals traveling with a mage? The anxious side hides a grimace, as he realizes what the fairies may or may not assume. That Karybdis changed them on purpose, or were they changed by someone else and the mage volunteered to help? Whether or not they knew of the reversal agent would make all the difference in what the reaction would be. The mage says he has friends among the fairies. If they learned the truth about his “companions” in the wagon with him, would they still count him as a friend? Or would he bend the truth to keep his fairy friends? Virgil suspects that the mage would follow any lead that Roman would put forth, putting his fate in the hands of the royal side. They need the mage to get to the reversal agent. Throwing him under the bus with his fairy friends would be petty revenge, which is not their style. But it wouldn’t stop him from having some choice words with the mage after everything is all said and done.

Virgil sighs and sits forward, putting his elbows on the table and resting his head in his hands, and stares at the wall, willing his mind to go blank, dulling the ever-constant nervousness down to a tolerable, and possibly calmer level one more time while using his breathing exercises, and closes his eyes, and somehow lets his mind wander as a last ditch effort to replicate the other night.

 _//Portobello Road, Portobello Road, street where the riches of ages are stowed...//_...Roman?

 _//Oh! What a cute chipmunk! Aww! He even has a friend! It’s like a real life Chip and Dale!//_ …Patton?

 _//It was very interesting seeing Roman heal Patton. I will have to interview Pat later on how it felt..//_...Logan?

 _//We will be within the range of fairy scouts soon. I will have to notify His Highness.//_...Karybdis?

Virgil opens his eyes and turned his head to stare at the royal side who wasn’t really looking at the ledger anymore, just staring off into space, tapping a pen he had just conjured against the book.

It takes the anxious side a split second to make the decision, and before he could chicken out, he finds himself singing out, _“Anything and everything a chap can unload, Is sold off the barrow in Portobello Road.”_

Roman stares at him, blinks, and lets out a chuckle. “It is your fault, you know. It was the last movie we saw before we came to the Imagination for the picnic. Plus you were singing “Age of Not Believing” to Patton when he was hurt.”

Virgil shrugs. “We hadn’t seen “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” in ages. You shouldn’t be complaining, it is a Disney movie, after all. Patton loved that song, it looked like he was having a bad dream, and afterwards he seemed calmer.”

“I hadn’t really heard you sing since the new years resolution video. Emo Allan Poe.” The royal side says with a chuckle. “It was not bad at all.”

“I sing in the shower sometimes.” The anxious fairy trait says with a small smile. “I think Karybdis wants to tell you something.”

“How.?.” A gentle tapping on the hutch roof interrupts the royal sides question, and they both exit the hutch with the royal side giving the dark fairy side an odd look as he lands on the roof of the hutch. 

Virgil just taps the side of his head and smiles at the royal as he flies up to land on Patton’s shoulder, his favorite perch.

“We will be in range of the outer fairy scouts soon, My Prince.” Karybdis says. “It would be wise to be visible so they know we are peaceful in our intent.”

“Agreed.” Roman nods.”Let us exude peaceful intentions, even though we are...uh...unconventional travelers. I hope your friendship with the fae is strong.”

‘I have done business with the fae for many years, My Prince, I have no doubts.” The mage says with a smile. “I believe we will most likely have visitors tomorrow morning, once the scouts have reported seeing us, and the news that they have undoubtedly heard about Prince Roman defending a wagon driven by a mage with some interesting passengers, will lure them to come and say hello, most likely to get clarification, since news that travels distances can be a bit vague and spotty besides the main point of a royal sighting.”

“Indeed.” The royal fairy side adds. “Gossip is only as reliable as your source from whence it came. Hearsay is not as believable unless you can get confirmation from a trusted source. I agree. Tomorrow morning we will be visited.”

“Quite possibly by Ambassador Malia herself.” Karybdis carefully adds.”News of a royal sighting may lure her out to hear the confirmation herself.”

“Ambassador Malia. Her name appears many times in the ledger in the hutch. She very much wants to meet with me.” Roman thoughtfully muses. “I hope she does come. I very much want to meet with her, also.”

“Remember Princey.” Virgil interjects. “You are not in your regular form here. She may take some convincing, if she is to believe you are, well.., you.” The anxious side punctuates the statement with a wave of his arms in Roman’s direction.

“I have no choice but to cross that bridge when I come to it, Stormcloud Longwing.” Roman says as he paces on the top of the fairy hutch. “I have no choice in the matter. If the smell of the chaos magic does not add to my case, hopefully my diplomacy skills will lure her to visit the castle when this is all over.”

“Diplomacy is the key word here.” Logan interjects. “When our visitors arrive, I have had no experience with any kind of visiting dignitaries, neither has Virgil or Patton. The last thing we want to do is commit an unintentional faux pas that offends them.”

Roman smoothes his sash and tugs on his tunic to pull out any wrinkles. “The main thing with any dignitaries is respect. Keep your head bowed until given permission to look upon them. Only speak when spoken to, and with the nervous nature of our possible visitors, keep your hands visible at all times to alleviate any suspicions the guards are trained to have from the get-go.” The royal side crosses his arms and stands straight with a confident smile. “And if all else fails, follow my lead.”

Virgil sits cross-legged on the moral sides’s large shoulder. “Oh, don’t worry, Princey. I’m the one that they will be watching the closest. Dark fairy, remember? My well-being is in your hands. I will be watching you like a hawk.”

“The main thing when meeting with the fae is complete sincerity. They have the uncanny ability to read body language and detect untruth.” Karybdis says.

“Oh, I plan on being super-nice to our new friends.” Patton smiles a sunny smile. “But if they threaten my dark, strange son I will not be so nice.” The large moral side says with a small frown.

“Do not worry, Padre. The Dark, Stormy Knights safety is my top priority.” Roman says as he raises his right hand. “I promise to you that I will do whatever it takes to keep Virgil safe. I swear on my last jar of Crofters.”

Patton chuckles. “Alright. I believe you, Roman, and I will hold you to that.” The large moral side says with uncharacteristic seriousness, and a pointed stare from his bright blue eyes.

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful as the wagon traveled along on the road, only to run into a tree partially blocking the road, which was taken care of quickly by a seemingly effortless one-armed grab and toss by Patton, and a large oddly-shaped boulder in the middle of the road that had dislodged from the cliffside above a couple of hours later.

Logan jumps down from the front seat. “I will take care of this, Pat.” The silver logical side says as he walks up to the obstructing boulder and examines it quickly for the most efficient way of clearing it out of the way, and settles on a kick to a protruding side of the boulder, which sent it bouncing down the slight embankment on the side of the road like a small pebble. “Satisfactory.” Logan says as he climbs back into the front seat of the wagon, and they are again moving forward.

As the day finally began to wane into the early evening, a forest could be seen in the distance. “The Fairy Wood.” The mage announces, as the large trees begin to dominate the horizon. “We will be stopping soon at a campsite that is only a few miles from the wood. But scouts have most likely reported us already. They may have witnessed the clearing of the road obstructions earlier. We were well within the range of the scouts when those occured.”

“Great.” Virgil mumbles as he adds mentally, “No sleep for me tonight, then.” As his nervousness increases tenfold.

The wagon pulls into the campsite an hour later, and the tents are quickly set up, Jasper is taken care of by Patton, and a fire is cheerfully blazing in the firepit as Karybdis sets up the tripod and cooking pot. A sombre evening meal is consumed as Logan gathers firewood in the surrounding forest, a slight nervousness settling over everyone as the hour grows late, and time to retreat to the tents grows near.

Karybdis produces his pipe and tobacco pouch again, and he quickly packs and lights the pipe with a flaming brand from the fire, “There will most likely be an advance herald to announce the impending arrival of our visitors tomorrow, giving us time to prepare for their arrival. They have done so in the past.”

“That would be perfect.” Roman says. “I was hoping they would adhere to the customs I had read about in the books in the archive. Announcing the iminent appearance of dignitaries is most appreciated in this case.” 

“Uh...yeah, great.” The anxious side gulps as he hunches down into his hoodie and adjusts his “sweater paws” nervously as he sits next to Roman on a stump next to the firepit.

“Do not worry, Virge. Your safety is my top priority.” The royal fairy side says with a squeeze to the anxious sides shoulder. “Neither I or Karybdis will allow any harm to come to you, right, mage?” Roman says with a raised eyebrow at Karybdis, his red eyes glowing in the firelight.

“I swear upon my honor, no harm shall come to you.” Karybdis says with his right hand raised, a sincere look upon his face. “They are a reasonable people. They will ask questions first, before any kind of action would possibly be taken.”

“Alright, I am trusting you.” Virgil says with a pointed purple stare to the royal side and the mage. “If I am a Virgil-kabob after tomorrow I am blaming you both.”

“Me too!” The large moral side adds, giving Roman and Karybdis his version of the blue-eyed stink eye. “No Virge-kabobs allowed!”

The mage and the royal side simply raise their right hands, and murmur “We promise.” 

Patton nods. “Good. Time for bed. We have an interesting day tomorrow.” He says with his “Dad Voice.”

Everyone agrees, and retreat to the tent to turn in for the night.

Virgil flies to the bed where the large moral side is kicking off his shoes and setting his glasses on the nearby table, getting ready to lay down. “Super Dad?”

“Yes, kiddo?” Patton replies as he stretches out and arranges his arms comfortably.

“Can I sleep on your chest? I think that is the only way I will get any.” The anxious side murmurs softly.

Patton smiles. “Of course you can! If it helps you, do it. I don’t move much lately when I sleep anyway, I think the extra arms keep me from rolling over.” The moral side says with a chuckle.

Virgil quickly returns to the hutch to leave his shoes just inside the door, then returns to the large paternal side and lands on his chest and sits down, already beginning to slightly calm down with the sensation of Patton’s heartbeat and body heat through the cat hoodie the large moral side wore. “Thanks Pat.”

“Anything for my hero!” Patton says as he winks at the fairy anxious side settling on his chest as Logan enters the tent and settles into the chair next to the fairy hutch.

“That was months ago, Pat.” Virgil says as he fidgets slightly with the cuffs of his hoodie.

“But it is a label that you will be wearing for as long as we, the individuals you “rescued” deem necessary.” Logan interjects. “You saved us, Virgil. We will forever be grateful.”

“But you were the one that found the way to do it.” Virgil mumbles. “You are just as much a hero as I am, Teach.”

“Ah, but you were the one who set the plan in motion, and braved the subconscious. I was unable to do anything but find the information you used. You did all the legwork.” Logan adds.

“Yeah, but why I did it was for a purely selfish reason.” The anxious side says with a small smile. “To bring you all back would help me with my aversion to hard work. With everyone back doing their jobs, I could go back to doing my singular job, instead of all of them.”

Patton chuckles. “You can’t fool me, Virge. You missed us.”

“No, I can’t fool you, Super Dad. Yeah, I missed you. And so did Thomas.” Virgil says, “I’m just glad it worked. Though lately I have been regretting bringing Princey back.”

“Hey! This is not my fault! We have discussed this!” Roman says as he stands outside the fairy hutch, crossing his arms with a huff.

Virgil chuckles and raises his arms in surrender. “I’m just pulling your wings, Princey. No need to get upset.” 

The royal side grumbles for a moment. “Fine. I need to turn in to get some beauty sleep before our visitors in the morning. Goodnight, Purple Emo.”

“Goodnight, Princey.” The anxious side says as the royal retreats into the hutch.

Virgil sighs. “No use prolonging the inevitable. Goodnight, Super Dad, Teach.” 

Both the logical and large moral sides respond with a murmured “Goodnight, Virgil.” as the anxious fairy side settles onto the large moral sides chest, and finds himself comforted by the sensation of the beating of Patton’s heart once more as he falls asleep.


	11. Morning Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the light fae.

Virgil suddenly found himself awake. Not entirely sure what had roused him, he looks around, blinking sleepily and taking stock of what and who he can see. Patton, of course, was still asleep, emitting small snores underneath the anxious fairy side as he props himself up on his elbows upon the large moral sides chest. Virgil looks toward the table with the fairy hutch upon it, noting that the chair next to the table is empty, and the hutch door is still closed, telling the anxious side that Roman is possibly still asleep, and Logan has most likely gone outside, having heard the mage moving around outside as was his usual morning routine ever since the quest started.

Virgil surmised that he probably heard Logan exiting the tent for the reason for his now awake state, and shifted carefully to a sitting position upon the still sleeping moral sides chest, and scrubs his face with his hands, ending with his hands running through his shoulder-length hair, pulling out the hair tie and re-gathering his hair into a ponytail while yawning widely. He’s amazed that he actually got some sleep, since the nervousness over the imminent visitors should have kept him up the entire night. He credits the comforting sound of the large moral sides heartbeat and body heat for his ability to actually relax and be able to rest, but now that he begins to think about the soon to visit fae, the nervousness that plagued him all of yesterday re-settles in his mind and Virgil shivers as the cool tingle of adrenaline begins to flow within his body, waking him up the rest of the way instantly.

Virgil stands up and flies over to the fairy hutch, intending to grab his shoes he had set just inside the door, when he hears restless movement within the hutch, indicating that Roman was awake and moving about. The anxious side opens the door and is greeted by the sight of Roman pacing the width of the hutch, and then stopping in front of the mirror to fuss nervously with his tunic, giving it a tug to pull out imaginary wrinkles and fiddling with his sash and brushing off non-existent dust particles with his hands. 

“Nervous, Princey?” The anxious side asks as he grabs his shoes and sits on a chair. 

“Maybe a little, Painted Shadowling. I want to make a good first impression.” The royal side says as he smooths his sash for the hundredth time.

“For what it's worth, Roman, I have the utmost confidence in you.” Virgil states as he ties his shoes and looks up at the royal side with his hands on his knees elbows bent off to each side.

Virgil then stands up and walks to the royal side, standing behind him, using the mirror to look into Roman's eyes and grasps him by the shoulders. “This is your realm, Princey. You got this. I can't help being nervous. It's part of my job. But you are Prince Roman. Thomas's creativity. The Big Kahuna of the imagination. I KNOW you can do this.” Virgil gives Roman’s shoulders a reassuring squeeze then steps back as the royal side turns to face him.

Roman pats Virgil on the shoulder and looks into his eyes. “Thanks, Virge. I needed that.” He says with a smile. The royal side turns his head toward the door to the hutch. “I think I hear Logan waking up Patton.” Roman strides to the door and opens it, revealing that Logan had indeed roused the large moral side, who was in the process of putting on his shoes.

“Good morning, Roman, Virgil. Karybdis says the advance notice has been given, and our visitors will be here soon.” Logan says as he looks in the mirror and makes sure his tie is straight and does a quick adjustment.

“Good morning, kiddos!” Patton says as he finishes tying his shoes and punctuates it with a yawn, rubs his eyes, and slips on his glasses. 

Roman takes a deep breath, and lets it out. “Almost showtime, then. Virge, once they arrive, keep your head bowed, and stay behind me. Don’t look up until I give you the okay.”

“Got it.” The anxious fairy side says with a deep breath of his own. “In four, hold seven, out eight.” Virgil murmurs, using the tried and true breathing exercises to calm his nerves before the big meeting.

“Let us go outside and wait for our visitors, then.” Roman says while rubbing his hands together nervously. “Come on.”

The sides exit the tent, to see Karybdis tending the morning fire and making breakfast. Since this campsite had a sturdy roughly hewn table, the royal side had decided the night before that it would be sufficient to hold the “meeting” upon it, so Roman lands on it to wait for the delegation.

“Good morning, My Prince.” Karybdis says. “Ambassador Malia will be arriving within the hour.”

“Good to know.” Roman says. “Do not tell them my identity. I will tell them myself, unless they figure it out themselves. Their notes on me in the guest ledger were pretty impressive, I don’t even recall spotting a fae at any time that I was in the castle on the dates mentioned.” The royal fairy side scratches his head. “Of course, my memory is a bit spotty about certain things lately.” Roman murmurs, only being heard by Virgil, who glances at the royal with raised eyebrows. 

The light fairy side claps his hands together and rubs them vigorously. “Any-way! There should be time for a quick breakfast before they arrive, I think.”

There was just enough time to have a quick breakfast and clean and stow the dishes before the advance guards for the Ambassador arrived.

Two serious looking fairies holding spears in their hands and swords in their belts land on the table, and quickly point their spears in Virgil’s direction. “Unseelie! Do not move!” One of the guards commands, and Virgil freezes in place, holding his hands up.

“Please do not hurt him! He means no harm!” Roman quickly says with raised hands toward the fae guards, taking a position between Virgil and the threatening spears.

“Stand down, gentlemen.” A smooth, melodious voice commands, and the guards relax, but still keep an eye on the dark fairy side as he stays still as a statue, head bowed and staring at the tabletop, trying to look as harmless as he possibly can.

A contingent of four more fairies land on the table, all dressed in browns and greens for better camouflage amongst the trees, and Roman quickly bows, and keeps his eyes staring at the tabletop as one of the fairies step forward to speak with Karybdis.

“Greetings, mage. It has been some time since we last saw one another. It is good to see that you are well.” One of the fairies says as Karybdis, Logan and Patton approach the table, but keep a respectful distance, but can still hear what is being said.

“Indeed it has, Madam Ambassador. It is good to see you again.” The mage replies with a small bow. “May I present to you two of my traveling companions, Logan and Patton.” Karybdis says as he indicates the silver logical and large moral sides standing next to him, who give small bows as they are introduced.

Ambassador Malia stands upon the tabletop, her soft green boots reaching just below her knees, form-fitting brown breeches and a plain, flowing mottled brown and green shirt, held in place by a brown belt with a small silver dagger within a sheath. Her hair is a golden blonde with the sides braided and pulled back to show her delicately pointed ears, and her eyes are an emerald green with pale porcelain skin and her iridescent dragonfly wings folded on her back.

“Gentlemen.” The ambassador acknowledges the two large sides with a small head nod, but then turns to the two fairy sides, walking around Roman, examining him intently, then turning to the dark fairy side, and examines him as well.

“You travel with interesting companions, mage.” The ambassador adds. “There has been gossip of Prince Roman defending a wagon driven by a person fitting your description with unconventional traveling companions. Since your wagon is the only one on the road, I would assume it was your wagon he was defending, and the faint smell of chaos magic explains the interesting companions quite well. It is good to know that the rumours of His Highness's death are untrue.”

“Yes, Madam ambassador, it was my wagon Prince Roman defended from the miscreants.” The mage confirms.

“The hearsay said nothing about fae being present, but you could have easily hidden. You wear the Prince’s emblem, but I was not aware of any fae in the employ of His Highness.” Ambassador Malia muses out loud as he examines Roman once more. “You do not look familiar, but your wings signify that you are of noble blood. And your dark fae companion as well. I think word would have traveled quickly concerning a runaway unseelie noble.”

That was news to Virgil, who blinked in surprise at the tabletop his eyes were frozen to, as the ambassador softly walked around him, a slight touch being felt on his butterfly wings as she examined him, her soft green boots appearing in his field of vision, only to disappear as she went back to where Roman was.

“But you are not true fae, I smell chaos magic around you two. I am assuming the mage is helping you all procure the newly discovered reversal agent.” The fae dignitary states confidently.

The royal fairy side takes that as permission to speak, but doesn’t raise his head. “Yes Madam Ambassador, Karybdis is helping us get the reversal agent. It would be detrimental in countless ways if we stayed in these forms.”

“This is a perilous journey once you get to where the reversal agent is reported to be located. Why would you risk your lives to regain your original forms?” The fae dignitary muses. 

“Because I must.” Roman then straightens, and looks who he assumes is the ambassador in the eyes. “I am Prince Roman.”

The ambassador’s eyes widen as she looks the royal side in the eyes, then looks over to Karybdis, who confirms it with a nod. The rest of the ambassador’s contingent whisper amongst themselves in shock.

“The Prince Roman that defended the wagon was a desperate illusion to get the robbers to flee, self-preservation fully intended.” The royal side says as he reproduces the illusion once more of a human Prince Roman standing next to the table who dips into a small bow. “The realm needs me to regain my normal human form.” The royal says while motioning toward the illusion. “We cannot stay like this.” Roman dismisses the illusion and walks the two steps to Virgil and lays a hand on his shoulder. The anxious side straightens, but keeps his eyes downcast and Roman gives it a reassuring squeeze. “Patton, Logan, Virgil and I need to get back to normal, and Karybdis says he knows where the reversal agent is. We have no choice but to trust him as a man of his word. I shudder to think of what would happen if we should fail.”

Ambassador Malia nods. “The mage is a man of his word, Your Highness. If he says he knows, then he knows. The realm would suffer greatly should you fail. If anyone should be able to procure the reversal agent it is you.” 

Roman gives the fae a small smile. “Your confidence encourages me greatly. The realm is already suffering from neglect, something I intend to remedy once I am back to normal. I have been distracted and absent for far too long. It also has been brought to my attention that the fae seek an audience with me. Once this quest is over and sufficient recuperation time has gone by, I estimate in about two weeks time, a delegation from the fae would be warmly welcomed to the castle. This is a personal invitation by me, witnessed by the mage and my companions. I will make the necessary arrangements with my castle staff once I return.”

Ambassador Malia smiles widely. “We will be there, Your Highness.” 

Roman softly catches the fae’s right hand and brings it up to his lips. “I am counting on it.” He says as he places a small kiss on the knuckles of the ambassador’s hand and bows.

“I see the rumors of your charm are true.” The ambassador chuckles. “I wish you safe travel and success with your quest. We will keep your current situation a guarded secret, until told otherwise by Karybdis.”

“Thank you, Madam Ambassador.” Roman replies with a smile. “I look forward to talking with you in two weeks.”

“As do I. Let us depart, so you can resume your quest. Farewell.” The fae dignitary gives a quick wave of her hand to Karybdis, who responds with a bow, and takes off from the table, her contingent following closely after.

Roman sighs. ‘That went smoother than I thought it would, what a lovely creature.”

The royal side notices Virgil giving him an odd look.”What? I’m gay, not dead. I can still recognize beauty when I see it.”

“Let us pack up camp so we can resume our quest.” Logan says as he heads toward the tents with Patton in tow to take them down.

And with a practiced efficiency, Jasper is hitched back up to the wagon, fire extinguished, tents taken down and fairy hutch stowed, and the wagon is once again moving toward their goal.


	12. Patton's Ponderings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton ponders their predicament.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note to self, never, never, never read angst while writing a fic. It only took one badly tagged angst fic on tumblr to bring full-on writers' block. It hit me HARD. But I was finally able to work through it with copious amounts of fluff. It's a short chapter, but the block is over, and the rest of the story should come out better now. I have the next 2 chapters rattling around in my head as we speak. Thanks!!
> 
> Whoops! The first paragraph was left out by accident. I have no idea how that happened. All fixed now! Teaches me to post without preview...

Patton has been thinking. Of course, there is not much else to do while just sitting in a wagon all day, watching the landscape roll by slowly at the leisurely pace of one horsepower. There is only so much wildlife watching, landscape admiring, and cloud comparing that a side can do before total and utter mind-numbing boredom plops down in his lap and makes itself comfy.

Patton has also been watching. It’s what he does best. When the quest started and they all took the potions, the paternal side stood back and watched as they all changed, and his concern for the well-being of his famILY was pushed to the forefront. He carefully scrutinized each side for signs of distress. That's what he is good at. Surprisingly, it was Logan who was the first to be uncomfortable. He stared at his hands so much on the first day, Patton was concerned for the mental well-being of the logical side. He seems to have gotten better though, he just needed to be reminded that they were all in this together. That he wasn't alone.

Virgil seemed to be also doing good, even if the day before was a bit stressful with the anticipation, his dark, strange son had faced the light fairy delegation bravely, trusting the creative side as Roman did what he does best. Patton was so proud of his hero! The moral side is glad that the anxious side doesn't have to be 8 inches tall by himself. 

Roman was…...well, Roman. The moral side knew he didn't have to worry about him too much, it seems that Virgil was keeping the royal side focused on the task at hand.

The paternal side stretches and flexes all of his arms in an attempt to increase circulation, and tries to shift his sitting position a bit on the cushion of blankets. Sitting still gets all kinds of old after a while, and he has been sitting in the back of a wagon for most of a week, the lunch stops a welcome respite from sitting in one place and being able to move around and stretch his legs, even if it was for a few minutes. He misses his own bed, and watching cartoons or movies, and even doing his normal everyday routine. Only a couple more days and they will be where they need to be to get the reversal agent. Wherever that was.

He has also been thinking about the definition of chaos: a state of utter confusion or disorder; also: a total lack of organization or order. Patton is sure he read it somewhere, or Logan told him about it at some point, but he did know the definition. But he was not quite sure that it defined the magic that changed them anymore, at least by his conclusions.

When he was shot by the crossbows when the robbers panicked at the sight of Roman’s illusion (and as he thinks about it, he scratches his right shoulder unconsciously) Patton is positive he heard the clang of a couple of the bolts bouncing off metal. The only metal around is Logan. It happened so fast, and before he could move he was shot twice, and he was feeling the pain and what he now knows was the burning of the poison on the tips of the bolts. 

Would he be able to dodge the bolts if he was his normal size? Would he have been quick enough to duck (quack) under the wagon? The answer to both is “Nope”. He simply isn’t that fast even on a good day. And Logan had told him that Karybdis said that his current large size saved him from the poison affecting him more than just the fever he suffered. But it could have been worse, or could it? He gained nine inches in height and at least four times his normal width when he changed, not to mention his now impressive musculature. Would they have even hit him if he was his normal size? He probably would have been shot by the robbers at the back of the wagon. He wouldn’t have been able to incapacitate them at all, and being so close, the chances were slim on missing if the crossbows are pointed right at you.

Both of the holes in the logical side’s shirt is over a vital area. Logan would have been shot through the heart and the stomach if he didn’t have his metal skin, and when Patton saw the glimmer of silver through a hole on the left side of the chest and the lower middle areas of the logical side’s polo as Logan tended the fire at the evening meal after he was healed from his injuries, he began to wonder if the logical side’s silver skin and seven extra inches in height was actually a blessing in disguise.

Was the magic somehow able to predict what was to happen and give the logical side the means to survive the deadly injuries? To give Patton the means to survive the robbers’ poison by pulling forward his “hidden strength” and changing him into “Super Dad” and to be able to clear the large obstructions on the road to the reversal agent? To give Roman the means to scare off the robbers and meet with the fairies on their level to invite them to his castle? The moral side is mostly positive there must be a benevolent, and even clairvoyant force at work somehow. Maybe he could bring it up to the others tonight after the evening meal. 

When the wagon stopped for lunch, Patton was relieved. Jumping out of the wagon and stretching his back until he heard vertebrae crack, he set about using the short amount of time to at least loosen up a bit until he was confined to the wagon once again. He helped Karybdis give Jasper water, happy for something to do, and patted the sturdy horse on the back as he munched happily on the lush grass. Remembering that they still had apples from the very first travel day, he reached into the food locker to grab one for Jasper and one for himself. While feeding the sweet horse the treat, he happily munched on his. Karybdis had said that the food locker was charmed so that the food stored within stayed fresh, something the paternal side found interesting. Just one more thing about the imagination that was amazing. But he still missed the mind palace, no matter how much he learned about Roman’s realm.

The mage called Patton over for lunch, and he happily joined the others, giving the stout horse the remainder of his apple, and a parting pat on the back.

And before long, it was time to get back into the wagon once more. Fluffing and shuffling the blanket cushions and shifting the stowed tents gave him a bit of room to stretch out, and so that’s what he did. Using one of the tents as a back cushion, he sprawled out in the back of the wagon, one set of arms clasped behind his head and the other set resting on his stomach, and before long, Virgil emerges from the fairy hutch and lands on the reclining moral side’s chest.

“Hey kiddo, what’s going on? Are you just as bored as I am?” Patton says with a chuckle.

“Ugh, probably more so.” The anxious fairy side grumbles. “Princey is busy planning Ambassador Malia’s visit already, I haven’t seen him so excited about something for some time, I needed a bit of a break from Roman’s furious scratching in a notebook and muttering about the things that have to be done before her visit.”

“You can’t blame him, Virge. We only have a couple more travel days before we are supposed to reach where the reversal agent is, and he is most likely bored witless with the waiting.” The moral side says with a smile.

“No, I suppose not.” Virgil sighs and drops down to sit cross-legged on the paternal side’s chest. “I miss my own bed. And I am totally taking the longest shower of my life when this is all over.”

“Me too, Virge. I am also going to bake some cookies to celebrate, after my own shower, of course.” Patton adds with a grin.

“Chocolate chip?” The anxious side says with a hopeful look.

“Of course. Anything for my dark, strange son.” Patton says with a wink.

“That sounds like a plan of the highest caliber,” Logan says as he twists around in the front seat of the wagon to look back at the two conversing sides. “Of course, I have no idea what my physical status will be like when I return to normal. I have literally not eaten, drank anything, or slept for nearly a week when the journey is over. It is unclear if my meditation during the night is beneficial or not. I am simply using it to pass the time. I am unclear on how magic works on what happens when one is changed back after several days in between the change and the reversal of said change.”

“When the change is reversed, your form will be from before the quest,” Karybdis says as he sips water from a bottle he then stores at his feet as he loosely holds the reins. “Time has not passed for that form, only the magically made one you currently have at the moment. The lack of sleep and nourishment will not matter. You may be fatigued, but I believe that will be all. At least that is what I believe will happen since I have noted many magical transformations in the past and their reversal, and have copies of copious notes on what happened after. But Chaos magic hasn’t been able to be reversed until recently, so I am basing my conclusions on how the other forms of magic that were able to be reversed affected those changed since there is no documentation concerning the reversal of Chaos magic and the possible side-effects...yet.” 

Logan thoughtfully stares off to the side. “So I basically will possibly just be fatigued, instead of dehydrated, starving, and sleep deprived. The lesser of the side-effects that are easily remedied with adequate rest. That seems acceptable. Thank you for answering my question, Karybdis.”

“My pleasure. I enjoy sharing my knowledge with those who seem truly interested. Especially those who love to learn. I know knowledge is important to you, Logan.” The mage adds with a nod to the logical side.

“Knowledge is an incomparably valuable multi-purpose tool that is instrumental in identifying and solving any problem. It is our greatest weapon and our greatest defense.” Logan states as he turns to face forward.

Patton makes the decision to definitely bring up his observations tonight after the evening meal. It wouldn’t hurt to get everyone’s input on the matter.

The paternal side shifts slightly and crosses his legs as the anxious fairy side moves to the side of the wagon to practice his shadow balls to pass some time, and before too long, Roman emerges and waves to the moral side as he joins Virgil on the side of the wagon.

“Done with the plans, Princey? I figured you would be in there planning away until we stopped for the night.” The anxious side says with a quick flick of his wrist and a pinecone bounces up into the air, and Virgil hits it twice mid-air more before it flies out of range.

“The preliminary plans are done, the rest will have to wait until the end of the quest when I will be back at the castle to set things in motion, Banded Purple Emo.” Roman states as he flicks a light ball at the next pine cone Virgil pops up into the air, bouncing it higher.

“You guys are getting pretty good at that.” Patton says as he watches the fairy sides bounce the pine cone in the air and keep it airborne for quite some time. 

“Skills acquired from the need to be less bored.” Roman sighs as he uses both hands to rapid fire small light balls to destroy the pine cone in mid-air

“Hey, I was still using that!” The anxious side grumbles as he searches for another suitable target.

Listening to the anxious and creative side bicker makes the large paternal side chuckle. Patton looks over to Logan to see that the logical side is in a conversation with the mage, listening with rapt attention to something Karybdis was explaining with great detail.

The moral side smiles to himself as he dozes in the back of the wagon, the fairy sides having resumed their game and are in the process of keeping more than one pine cone airborne, with growing success as the game continues to unfold. Whether it is the anticipation of what the others will say tonight when he brings up his ponderings or thinking of the reversal agent, Patton can't help but be a tad nervous about what the others will say.


	13. Questions Posed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton poses his questions.

The wagon pulls into a pleasant campsite slightly earlier than the mage expected. “This will do. I suppose I miscalculated when we would arrive. No matter, it gives us plenty of time to set up camp. Tomorrow at dusk we will be where we need to be anyway.”

Patton volunteered to get water for Jasper and for use around camp, and when he reached the clear stream near the campsite he spotted a bush heavily laden with berries of some sort. They looked like tiny 2-inch watermelons, except they were red with blue stripes. He gathered some quickly to take to camp and have either Karybdis or Roman identify what they are and if they are edible. He stashes the collected berries in the large pocket of his cat hoodie, and fills the buckets at the clear stream and carries them to camp. He carefully sets the buckets down, and finds Roman, Virgil and Karybdis at the fire pit.

“Hey kiddos, I found some interesting berries down by the stream, and I was wondering what they are.” Patton says as he strolls up to the group.

“Let’s see them, Padre.” Roman says as he flies over to one of the the large paternal sides shoulders.

Patton pulls out the berries he had placed in his hoodie pocket, and he can’t help but notice the mage’s eyes light up. “You found these by the stream?” The mage asks, still smiling hugely.

Roman claps his hands together and bounces on his heels. “Padre, what you have found is one of the most fascinating foods of the realm. We call them Roulettes. And they are certainly edible. In fact they will be the perfect dessert for tonight's evening meal, don’t you agree, mage?”

“Yes! Most certainly! As the mage moves over to the wagon and pulls out the spare buckets. “Show us the bush, if you would be so kind, Patton.”

“Sure! Right this way.” Patton leads the way with Roman on one shoulder, Virgil on the other. With the mage and a curious Logan who was at the wagon unloading the tents when the mage grabbed the buckets.

The moral side stops at the heavily laden bush, and the mage whistles in awe. “A grand find indeed! These must have just become ripe, or the forest animals would have been here before us, and the yield would have been less. Be sure to pick the brightest colored berries, those are the ripe ones. We will leave the unripe on the bush, to be enjoyed by the wildlife when they become edible.”

Patton grinned at the compliment and nods, and grabbing a bucket, begins to fill it with the fruit, with the help of Logan. “Why do you call them Roulettes?” Patton asks as he examines a brightly colored fruit before placing it in the bucket.

“Because you aren’t sure what the next one will taste like. Sort of a “Russian Roulette” of tastes. One could taste like one thing, and the next would be something totally different. But it isn't like Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, these don’t taste gross, unless you get an unripe one.” Roman says as he sits on Patton’s shoulder. “Give one a try.”

Patton picks a brightly colored fruit off the bush and sniffs it, glances at the mage, who nods at the moral side in encouragement. He pops the whole berry in his mouth and bites down. An unexpected flavor floods his mouth, and he puts a hand up to his lips and stares at the mage with wide eyes. “Peaches? These don’t look like peaches!” The moral side exclaims as he finishes chewing the fruit in his mouth.

“The next one won’t taste like peaches, but another type of fruit.” Roman says with a grin. “Thus now you know about Roulette Berries.”

Virgil chuckles. “Wow, Princey, that’s pretty cool.”

Logan examines a berry closely. “Fascinating. I surely hope we have some left over for when I can be able to experience them myself.”

“Don’t worry, Specs. We will have the mage put some in his food locker for later. There is plenty here on the bush.”

Karybdis nods. “These are considered a delicacy. I will certainly put some away in the food locker for later consumption. We will most likely visit this bush tomorrow morning to pick more to replace any consumed tonight.”

“That sounds adequate, thank you.” Logan says as he continues to fill Patton’s bucket with berries.

The group returns to camp with nearly overflowing buckets of berries that the mage stores in the food locker for later in the evening. The setting up of camp resumes with high spirits, and great anticipation of tomorrow’s foray to find the reversal agent. The tents are erected, firewood is collected and Jasper is unhitched and taken care of by Patton, who covers him with his blanket and pats the stout horse on the back as he munches happily on the tasty grass that grows abundantly in the area where the horse will spend the night. “Good boy, Jasper.” The moral side murmurs as he joins the others at the firepit, suddenly feeling nervous about what he has been contemplating all day and how he was going to bring the subject up to the group.

His conflict must have been showing on Patton’s face, for when he joined the others at the fire, Karybdis takes a seat on a stump at the firepit, having just come back from setting the wards around the area, and seeing an uncharacteristic frown on the moral side’s face, he states “I surely hope you didn’t sample an unripe berry, for those are truly vile. At least I am hoping that is not the case.”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry. I’m just thinking about how I was going to start a conversation that I have been contemplating all day.” Patton says as he looks around the firepit.

“You have our attention, Padre. Go ahead.” Roman says as he lands on the stump closest to Patton’s.

The large moral side fidgets. “Well, um....Have you noticed where the holes in Logan’s shirt are from the crossbow bolts that bounced off him?” Patton says as he stands up and walks up to Logan.

“I don’t see how…” The silver logical side begins as he looks down and sees Patton’s index finger mark the hole in his shirt on the left side of his chest, and a lower index finger mark a hole at his stomach area. Logan looks at the others around the firepit as they processed the information.

“He would have died or have been grievously hurt if he wasn’t the way he is.” Karybdis   
murmurs.

“Precisely!” The large paternal side says as he returns to his original stump. “I don’t think these forms were just convenient for the magic to change us into, they were specifically picked so we could succeed in the quest.”

Roman stares at the moral side with an incredulous look. “Clarification is in order, Padre. I’m not quite following you.”

Patton clears his throat and begins his case. “Alright. I have been able to clear the road of fallen trees, lift the wagon when a wheel needed repair, and would have died if I was my normal size when I was shot by the poisoned bolts.” The moral side says as he counts off the examples on his fingers, and continues, “Logan would have been seriously hurt in the same robber attack if he was normal, regardless of any extra height he gained when he changed. You, Roman were given the way to meet with the fairies, who very much wanted to meet with you. And you also were granted the way to spook the robbers away without you having to risk life and limb to do so. I don’t think they would have listened to you if you were normal, and the element of surprise was in our favor and helped.”

Roman blinked at the large moral side and cleared his throat. “What about Virgil?”

Patton purses his lips. “Our quest isn’t quite over. The kiddo has unique skills that will possibly come in handy tomorrow.”

The royal side looks at Patton with new respect. “You have a strong case, Padre. That makes quite a bit of sense. Come to think of it.”

The large moral side grins. “I knew I was on to something!”

“Indeed.” Logan states as he adds wood to the fire. “You thought about this all day?”

“Yep! I saw the holes in your shirt and started to think. There was not much else to do.” Patton says with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

“This is a most interesting conundrum.” The mage says as he sets up the tripod over the fire for the cooking pot. “That Chaos Magic is not the wild and unpredictable force we thought it once was, but a conduit for another force to somehow predict what is needed for the future, in this case, I tuned the potions to your auras. The magic chose these forms by what it found within you, and what we would possibly face. Interesting.”

“That may be the case.” Logan thoughtfully muses “But there could be other things to consider.”

“Like what, Specs?” Roman asks

“Our very nature. Who we are and what we represent. Those cannot be ignored. I don’t know everything about your realm, Roman, nor do I pretend to. Perhaps we will find out more information tomorrow when the quest is closer to an end. Wherever the reversal agent is will either add more questions, or even provide answers. We have no choice but to go forward if we are to get back to normal.” Logan says as he crosses his arms and his glowing indigo eyes look across the fire at the royal fairy side.

“Agreed.” Roman says with a nod. “I am so over being 8 inches tall.”

“Mood.” Virgil murmurs softly as he sits on the same stump as Roman, dangling his legs over the edge, and looks at the royal side with a small smirk, Making Roman chuckle.

Patton pokes at the fire with a small smile. “We all want go get back to normal, Kiddos. The extra arms and strength have come in handy, but I don’t want to keep them, and I am positive Logan doesn't want to stay silver, either. We have one more day to go before we can call this a failure or a success, and I am REALLY hoping for a success. And together we can make it so.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” The royal side states confidently with a smile. “As the mage has said, from your mouth to the divines ear. Plus he also has said that he anticipates success, and we have the well-wishes of the fae, which I will count in our favor, also. So, success is well within our means. We will be back to normal soon.”

“YES!” Patton chirps with a bright smile.

The rest of the evening is uneventful, as the evening meal is prepared and eaten, with the added treat of a bucket of Roulettes brought out afterward. A berry is cut into small pieces for the fairy sides, and each piece had a flavor of it’s own, much to Roman’s amazement. A half a bucket is polished off before bedtime is announced by the moral side, and they all retreat to the tents for the night.


	14. Hatching a Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan is made.

The first rays of sunrise greeted Logan as he exited the tent to greet Karybdis as the mage stirs the remains of last night’s fire and adds kindling to the glowing embers, starting the flames anew.

“Good morning, Karybdis.” Logan states as he grabs a small branch from the firewood pile and breaks it in pieces to add to the small fire beginning to grow within the fire pit.

“Ah, yes. Good Morning, Logan.” Karybdis says as he begins the preparations for breakfast. “I have to say it has been a very interesting trip, and I have enjoyed conversing with you.”

“I have enjoyed our conversations as well. Perhaps we can keep in touch by way of Roman when this is all done. He will most likely grumble about being a Prince not a letter carrier, unless he can figure out another way.” Logan states as he adds more wood to the fire.

“I would like that very much. Unless His Highness locks me in the dungeon after this quest is over as punishment for what I have put you all through, I would look forward to correspondence with you.” The mage smiles as he puts the pot of water on the fire to boil.

Patton is the next to emerge from the tent, yawning widely and stretching his arms. “Good Morning, Lo, Karybdis.”

“Good morning, Patton.” Both men greet the large moral side as they sit by the fire pit.

‘Do you need more water? I can go fetch some then pick more Roulettes to replace what we ate last night.” Patton offers, as he grabs the water buckets, then moves to the wagon and grabs the partial bucket of berries from the food locker.

“That is a fine plan, Patton.” Karybdis says. “It takes time to boil the water anyway. I am sure you are anxious to get underway, since the end of the quest is so near.”

“Oh, yes. Doing something makes the waiting a bit more manageable.” The paternal side says with a chuckle and walks in the direction of the small stream and the bush of berries.

Virgil appears next, landing at the stump nearest the mage. ‘Roman’s coming, he just had to “be presentable” as usual.” He says with a jaw-cracking yawn. “I couldn't sleep a wink last night.”

“I was wondering why you are up so early.” The mage remarks. “It is understandable. His Highness will most likely demand to know where we are going to get the reversal agent as soon as he emerges from the tent.”

“You would be right about that one, mage.” Roman says as he emerges from the tent and lands next to Virgil. “Out with it! I need to know what I am up against so I can plan.”

“Perhaps we should wait a few minutes for Patton to return, so he can hear this too. He went to get water and refill the half-empty Roulette bucket.” Logan states as he adds more branches to the fire.

“Of course! It would be best to have everyone present. We will wait for Padre to return from his task.” The royal side crosses his arms and stares into the fire. “I just want this journey to finally end.”

“We all do, Princey. The end is so close. Let’s not screw it up with rash decisions or actions.” The anxious side says with a hand on Roman’s shoulder.

“You are wise beyond your years, Emo Glassywing.” Roman smiles at the purple-clad side. 

“I’m back! Oh! Good morning kiddos!” The large moral side bursts into the campsite a few minutes later with his usual morning vigor, setting the water buckets down near the fire pit, then moving to the wagon to store the newly refilled bucket into the food locker, and plops down on a vacant stump seat at the fire pit.

“Good morning Super Dad.” Virgil says with a smile. “Now that Patton is back, we can finally hear about where the reversal agent is.”

Karybdis nods and adds another branch to the fire, glances at everyone around the fire, and takes a deep breath. “It was told to me that the reversal agent is in a large cave near Cloudspear Peak, guarded by a fierce creature. I know not what said creature is, but none have returned from previous expeditions.”

“Well that is all kinds of foreboding.” Virgil mumbles. “The only person who could possibly defeat the creature is 8 inches tall at the moment, even if the information is true.” The anxious side says with a grimace as he gestures toward Roman.

“Your faith in my creature slaying encourages me greatly.” The royal fairy side thoughtfully says as he stares into the fire. “But, of course we will need to come up with an alternate plan due to our unfortunate circumstances.”

“Oh! I know! Why doesn't Virgil use his shadow-merging thing to sneak Roman in so he can take the reversal agent, then he could slay the creature once he is back to normal!” Patton says as he bounces slightly on his stump seat.

“I haven’t even practiced that.” Virgil mutters, “But that does seem like a good plan. Any other abilities have been easy to use, even if I haven’t even tried the shadow merging, I should be able to do it with little difficulty, once I have shadows to practice with.”

“That is as good as any other plan that I could have come up with. Once I am normal size I can summon my sword and dispatch the creature, whatever it is, and that will be that.” Roman says while pacing on the stump. “We still have some traveling to do. We can brainstorm ideas on the way to our destination. We can iron out any problems on the road, or if a better plan is made along the way.” The royal side muses.

“There is a bit of a flaw in the plan...sorry Patton.” Logan interjects. “We do not know what the reversal agent looks like, so Roman will not know what to use to return to normal.”

Roman winces. “That is definitely a flaw.”

Karybdis stares thoughtfully into the fire while fiddling with a piece of kindling with his fingers. “Perhaps you could observe the creature, whatever it is, and take note of the area of the cave it seems the most protective of. The reversal agent would most likely be in that area.”

Roman hummed in agreement. “Seems like the only course of action we have, unless we come up with something else along the way.”

With the plan tentatively in place, the travelers have breakfast, pack up the camp and load the wagon with practiced precision. The end is in sight, and they all knew that by nightfall, the means to return to normal will be within reach.


	15. Spelunking Imagination Style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Into the cave they go...what will they find?

Cloudspear Peak resembled its name as the large craggy, dark mountain loomed in the distance, it’s summit wreathed by clouds. All cliffs and rocky spires, the stark, treeless peak dominated the horizon, hovering menacingly over the forest below it.

The travelers in the sturdy wagon forged forward with a common goal firmly within their minds, to get to the cave that held the way to finally return to normal.

The plan was agreed upon during the lunch stop, after a small brainstorming session to refine and complete it to everyone’s satisfaction. Virgil and Roman, using the dark fairies shadow merging ability, will venture into the cave to see if they can see what kind of creature lies within and hopefully be able to deduce where the reversal agent is by stealthily observing the guardian, then Roman would take the reversal agent, summon his sword and dispatch the creature.

Karybdis, Logan, and Patton will wait a safe distance from the cave and wait for Roman’s signal to enter the cave after he has slain the creature. Then they can finally return to normal and Roman can pop them back to the door that leads to his room at the mind palace and they can finally go home. (The last part was an understood thing, Karybdis didn’t need to know it, but the sides knew what would happen) It was the best plan they could come up with considering only one of them actually knew how to slay a creature of the imagination, and Roman needed the mage to keep Patton and Logan safe outside.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully, all the travelers were concentrating on the singular goal of the end of the quest with anxious looks and determined stares, with the goal of a successful ending and returning to the mind palace safe and sound.

The sun was low in the sky as Karybdis pulled the wagon into a small clearing, and hops off of the wagon. Cloudspear Peak loomed over them menacingly, the clouds at the top slowly shifting as the shadows from the setting sun exaggerated the fissures and crags of the mountain before them, and the large trees all around the clearing block the fading sunlight from reaching the ground casting the area in a kind of faux twilight.

“The cave is said to be at the end of that trail.” the mage points at a game trail at the edge of the clearing. “I will set wards to keep the wagon and Jasper safe, then we will continue onward.”

The mage sets the wards with practiced efficiency and nods to Roman as he grabs his travel satchel and a canteen of water. “Let us continue, My Prince.” The mage then conjures two balls of glowing light to aid them in their trek to the cave, handing one to Logan, and keeping the other for himself.

“Alright, everyone. Our quest ends here. Let’s go.” The royal fairy side says with conviction and the others nod in agreement. Roman settles on one of Patton’s shoulders and Virgil, to Logan’s surprise, opts to settle on one of the silver logical sides shoulders. “Hope you don’t mind, Teach.” the anxious dark fairy side says with a small smile.

“Not at all,” Logan says as they all set out along the trail to the cave.

Not a word is said as they hike along the trail, all eyes following the lead of Karybdis who is at the head of the group, keeping his eyes on the small trail before him, having charmed the ball of light to float just ahead of him, the underbrush of the forest making it easy to spot where the trail leads. Patton walks in the middle of the group, and Logan brings up the rear, holding his glowing ball carefully in his hand, letting it cast it’s light to show the area around.

They find themselves climbing slightly in elevation as they reach the foothills of the peak with switchbacks appearing on the trail and stars in the sky as they hike higher towards the base of the mountain itself. Karybdis calls for a halt at the halfway mark, needing a moment to catch his breath. “We are close, just a little farther.” He says as he drinks some water from his canteen and passes it to Patton. 

They continue the trek after a few minutes, not minding the interruption since it gave them some time to renew their resolve and determination to see the quest through to the end, through the unknown danger looming ahead. Too close to give up now. Thomas needs them.

The switchbacks stop, and the trail straightens out then curves around two huge boulders, the terrain becoming more rock than soil. “The cave is just beyond those boulders,” Karybdis whispers for all to hear.

Adrenaline courses through the royal sides system, sending cool shivers through his body. “Alright Purple Emperor, time to practice the shadow merging.”

Virgil nods and flies down to a promising shadow. He stretches his hand out, willing the shadow to conceal him from the light. The shadow suddenly shoots out a tendril, catching him by the wrist, and pulls him into its blackness causing the anxious side to yelp in surprise.

“Virge! Are you okay, kiddo?” Patton says with concern.

The anxious side, after getting over the shock of being yanked by his arm, does a quick body check to see if everything was still attached, and then looks around at the others. “Yeah! I’m fine! Did it work? I can’t tell. Everything's a weird grey color though.”

Roman grins. “Indeed it did! You disappeared completely. Now let us see if you can make me disappear too.” The royal side flies down to where Virgil was last seen and waits.

A shadowy hand reaches out and grabs Roman’s arm, and the blackness flows from the hand and quickly spreads to the rest of his body in seconds, covering him. Roman looks over and dimly sees Virgil, who is holding onto the royal sides arm with a small smile. “Easier than I thought it would be.” The anxious side says as he lets go and Roman notices the surroundings get brighter as the shadows retreat from his person. Virgil appears out of the shadow next and crosses his arms. “Let’s do this thing.”

Roman nods and turns to the others. “Keep these two safe, mage. Wait for my signal to enter.”

Karybdis nods. “I will guard them with my life, My Prince.”

The royal fairy side nods and turns to Virgil, who grabs him by the right wrist, and they both suddenly disappear into the shadows, making their way to the cave.

The two fairy sides move through the shadows, their keen eyesight able to see quite well in the dark, especially Virgil, who is not surprised by anything anymore concerning what fairies can do. They pass the two boulders, and upon seeing the mouth of the cave yawning before them, Roman whispers “If the size of the cave mouth is an indication on how large the creature is, I will have my work cut out for me.” 

They enter the cave, carefully choosing where to put their feet, not wanting to tip off the creature within of any trespassers by dislodging or kicking any loose rocks, or even the sound of footfalls, albeit small fairy-sized ones. Their movement is only slightly hindered because of Virgil having to keep ahold of Roman’s wrist to keep him within the shadows. The sounds are the usual small drips echoing within the cave from groundwater somewhere dripping from the ceiling in a regular cadence, but an echo of movement makes the fairy sides stop and listen, only to not hear it again, so they continue deeper.

A dim light is seen ahead, but it doesn’t concern Virgil. There are still plenty of shadows to conceal them. Another noise is heard ahead, sounding like leathery shuffling, then a rumble, telling them that they are getting closer to the creature, and their adrenaline levels shoot higher than the roof of the very dimly lit cavern they suddenly find themselves in, only less than half being lit by the one lone torch guttering on the wall ahead of them.

The fairy sides look around quickly, straining their ears to locate any sound that would tell them where the creature lay, which could very well be the largest part of the cavern shrouded in shadow.

Suddenly, a sound like wind blowing is heard, along with a breeze. The sides freeze. There shouldn’t be wind this far into the cave.

“Ooooh...I hear the pitter patter of little feet.” A smooth voice echoes around the cavern, causing the two sides to look at each other, eyes wide. They both back up until their backs are against the craggy wall, as far into the shadows that they can go. The creature can talk. Not a good sign.

“I can smell you, you know.” The voice purrs. “You will not be able to hide for long.” Another shuffle is heard, and a scrape and suddenly rocks are dislodged from a wall and tumble down somewhere on the other side of the cavern. Green eyes suddenly glow from the darkness and a rumble of laughter. “I know you are here. I can hear your little hearts thumping oh so very fast. Come out, so I can see you, little rabbits.”

Virgil is nearly paralyzed in fear but looks over at Roman, who is sweating profusely and his eyes are as big as dinner plates. “My dream,” the royal side whispers.

“I grow tired of this game.” A whoosh is heard, and the voice continues, sounding smaller, somehow. “I sense that this will be my only option.” A word is suddenly spoken, and the cavern is suddenly brighter, since all the hidden torches around the room have ignited all at once, chasing the shadows away, exposing the two sides instantly, causing them to shrink away from the sudden light, shading their eyes with their arms from the brightness, temporarily blinded.

“Prince Roman?” The voice hesitantly says as the royal side regains his sight. He had turned his head towards Virgil when the sudden brightness occurred, so the anxious side was the first thing he saw as his vision cleared.

Upon hearing his name, he looks over at the source, lowering his arm, and straightened, and only one word pops into his head.

“Shit.”


	16. Acquaintances Remembered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is the stranger? How do they know Prince Roman?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short, but the next chapter will be longer.

Virgil stands alternating looks between the royal side and the owner of the mysterious voice, who at the moment after saying Romans name, have put their hands up to their mouth in shock.

“Who has done this to you? I shall turn them into a frog and dine on frogs legs!” the mysterious individual rants.

Virgil looks at Roman, who at the moment has seemed to have checked out mentally. His eyes are still as big as dinner plates and continues to stare at the stranger, blinking occasionally, seemingly frozen in place in some kind of shock.

“Roman? Earth to Princey...come on dude, what is going on in there?” The anxious side waves his hand in front of Roman’s nose, trying to get some kind of response. He then turns to the stranger and clears his throat. “Um...Since Princey.exe has seemed to have stopped working, who are you?”

The mysterious stranger steps forward, but then in a whirlwind of black and green smoke, shrinks to the same size as the fairy sides, and walks up to Roman and puts their hands on his face. “His aura is too bright...what has happened? I suspected something dire since the realm has gone through some drastic changes...His memories…” The stranger then looks over at Virgil with bright green eyes, “Has he forgotten?”

The anxious side stares at the stranger for a moment, and since they have not attacked or even answered his question, he concludes that answers will come in time. “His memory is as he has put it “a little spotty” lately. He has been through a lot. He also claimed to have dreams of green eyes and someone calling his name, which kept him from staying too long in the Imagination.”

“He does not remember me as I am now, that is why he did not contact me when he returned to the realm, he only had the sense of what I was before, which was something he feared. I have been calling for him ever since I sensed his return, but he would not stay very long. When the realm began to suffer, I was very concerned...I swore I felt him…depart..” The stranger blinks and looks over at Virgil again. “You saved him. I can see it in his aura...over his heart. Thank you.” 

“Yeah...um, your welcome? Is there a way that you can...you know...reboot him?” Virgil says while rubbing the back of his neck with a hand.

The stranger smiles, “This should help him remember,” then plants a kiss on Roman’s forehead, a green, glowing print on Roman’s forehead fading quickly after they pull away. The royal side shudders and gasps, closes his eyes, then drops to one knee, and the stranger steps back as the anxious side stoops down and puts a hand on Roman’s shoulder. “Princey? Are you with us?”

“I remember now.” The royal side finally says after a few moments, taking deep breaths. He opens his eyes and looks up at the stranger, a green glow fading from his eyes. “I must have forgotten when I dispersed. That is the only answer. Thank you for giving me back my memory.” He stands up and brushes off his knee, and smiles at the stranger, giving his tunic a tug to remove any wrinkles, a nervous habit of his, and clears his throat.

“I’m sure you are wondering who this person is. This, dear Purple Admiral, is Metis Mnemosyne Decima, also known as the Dragon Witch. Metty, this is Virgil.” Roman says while smiling widely.

“THE Dragon Witch.” The anxious side says with wide eyes. And takes in her appearance for the first time. Flame red hair, pale skin, long emerald green dress with shimmering accents with long sleeves that covered the back of her hands and attached to middle fingers with a loop. Luminous green eyes that held great wisdom and power, that shifted from normal to slitted reptilian for a moment before human eyes looked at him once more.

“And you are THE Lord of Vigilance. Just call me Metty. I find titles boring.” Metty says with a smile. “I sense the others outside. But they can wait a bit longer. There is something we must do first.” And with a twirl of her hand, they find themselves off the floor onto the top of a large table, with a smaller, fairy size table upon it. “Would you like some tea? It’s very good.” An elegant silver tea set with three porcelain cups appears in a swirl of black and green smoke.

“We came here on a mission, ” Roman says. “It was reported that we could find what we are looking for in this cave.”

“Don’t be in such a rush, dear.” Metty croons. “I can smell the magic on you. Do not worry. Your information was right. I was the one who told the Mages Collective in the first place. One lump or two? Do you take milk?” 

“If we have some tea then will you tell us what we need to know?” Virgil says with a scowl, crossing his arms.

“Of course.” Metty smoothly says and pours three cups of tea into the delicate porcelain teacups and motioned to the sugar and milk, with raised eyebrows.

The anxious and royal sides tell Metty what they like in their tea, and she sets the teacups in front of the sides and takes up her teacup and gives a dainty sip. “Go ahead. You want answers, don’t you? Drink up.”

Roman picks up his teacup and takes a sip. It was indeed very good, and not too hot, so he gulps the rest of the drink down in one go, setting the teacup down on the table. “There. I have had my tea. I need the answers now. Where is the reversal agent for chaos magic?”

“My, my. We are impatient today. The reversal agent is in my possession, you need not to worry. Where it is exactly no longer matters now.” Metty says while setting her teacup primly down on the table.

“Why is that?” Roman says with raised eyebrows.

Metty sets her elbows on the table and cradles her chin on her interlaced fingers. “Because I have already given it to you.” She says with a mischievous smile. “You may want to get off the table.”

Roman stares at Metty, then Virgil, who stares at his own teacup, then gulps it down like he just did. It then registers what she had just said, and he turns and runs to the edge of the table and jumps.


	17. Back to Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reversal agent is taken by the two who still need it.

Patton was getting concerned.

“What if Roman was unable to find the reversal agent?” Patton says with a worried frown, “It has been so long!”

Karybdis sips from his canteen. “If anyone could get the reversal agent, it would be Prince Roman. He would not give up.”

“No, he would not.” Logan states, crossing his arms. “He feels responsible for our well being. It is his realm. He would want to finally be able to rectify our situation.”

“You would be correct there, calculator watch.” A familiar voice says, stepping into the light of the glowing orbs. A smiling, normal sized Prince Roman stands before them. “There is someone I would like you to meet. Especially you, mage. She has some choice words for you.”

“She?” The stunned mage parrots before realizing that the others have left, and hurries to catch up to the group.

The group enters the cave, and as Patton enters behind Roman, a black and purple shape bounces into his arms, which turns out to be a now normal sized Virgil. “I know we said as soon as we were both normal, but I had to at least get one Super Dad hug.” The anxious side says as Patton looks at the purple and black clad side in his large arms, and lifts him a bit more so Virgil could hug him around the neck, and wraps all of his arms around the anxious sides body and gives him a light squeeze. 

“How was that, kiddo?” The paternal side asks. 

“Not bad. I prefer your normal hugs though.”

Patton chuckles and sets Virgil down, then notices the red haired woman smiling at them.

Roman clears his throat. “Logan, Patton, Karybdis. This is Metis Mnemosyne Decima. You may have heard me refer to her as the Dragon Witch.”

“Wow! You didn’t tell me that she was so pretty!” Patton chirps with a megawatt smile

“I see we have a charmer in the Lord of Morality.” Metty says with a smile as she walks over to the new arrivals. “Lord of Intelligence, it is good to finally meet you. Roman has spoken of you often.”

Logan crosses his arms. “Probably when he was upset about something I did. It is a pleasure to meet you, also.”

Metty stops in front of Karybdis and crosses her arms. “You.” She fixes the mage in a green-eyed stare. “What possessed you to do this to them?”  
The mage shrank back from the rage being directed point-blank at him. “I w-wanted to g-get the reversal agent to help th-those afflicted by chaos magic.” He stutters while dropping his eyes down to the floor.

“By subjecting the Crown Prince and the High Lords to a magic that had a RUMOURED reversal agent? What if the rumor was false? They would have been stuck! You have no idea of the damage that could have caused!” Metty seethed at the mage.

“M-my contact with the Mages Collective said that the information was solid. I ha-ad every belief that the rumor was indeed fact.” Karybdis muttered to the floor.

Metty hummed in thought. “When did your plan to force the Prince himself to help you come about?”

“I saw them in the clearing and the idea came to me. After I had moved them I had to get fresh chaos water since what I had was old and unstable. Ever since they took the potions I have been ashamed of myself for doing such an underhanded thing, to My Prince of all people! And when I realized who was also involved, my shame was hundredfold. I only pray that someday they will forgive me.” Karybdis says, looking up into Mettys eyes.

Mettys luminous eyes narrowed. “That remains to be seen. I am sure his highness will let you know. I now know the how and the why. Now the Prince, the Lords and I have business to conclude. I thank you for helping them get here, but now I must send you away. I will take charge of their safety now. Goodbye.” She flicks her wrist and the mage disappears in a swirl of black and green smoke.

Metty holds up a hand at the gasp of surprise Patton emitted. “Do not worry. I sent him home, along with his wagon. He is fine. Except I unashamedly stole these.” And she points at the table and a bowl full of Roulettes appears. “I was unaware these were in season. A pleasant surprise. I will have my staff check all known berry patches around my keep now. Speaking of my keep..” 

A wave of her hand and the group is suddenly in a well-appointed room with a fire in the hearth and a large, polished table and sturdy chairs in the center, with a chandelier of glowing orbs over the table. The room had beautiful tapestries on the stone walls and more glowing light orbs within the wall sconces. The bowl of Roulettes appear on the table, and two cups appear next to the bowl.

“I only use that cave on the occasion that I want some alone time. This is much better.” Metty sighs.

“I am sure you are eager to return to normal.” Metty picks up the cups and offers one to Patton and the other to Logan. “This will do the trick.” She steps back and smiles.

Patton looks down at Virgil, who nods his head vigorously. He looks down one last time at his large, muscular form. “Well, back to being just plain old dad. Thank goodness.” He then drinks the liquid in the cup quickly, and sets the cup down on the table. “At least it wasn’t gross like the other potions,” he thinks as a warmth radiates from his stomach, and a bright light forces him to close his eyes. An odd feeling, like traveling in a elevator going down causes him to step back when the feeling suddenly stops. The paternal side feels hands on his shoulders, and he opens his eyes to see that he is the same size as Virgil as the anxious side pulls him into a hug. “You are still Super Dad. Inside.” The anxious side whispers into Patton's ear as the moral sides two arms wrap around and squeeze.

Patton pulls back and looks into Virgil’s eyes. “Wait. Your eyes are still purple. A deep purple.”

Virgil looks back at the moral side. “And yours are blue. Not as bright, but still blue. Princey?” The anxious side looks over at the royal side.

Roman looks at the anxious side. “Mine will most likely be a dark shade of red. It must be a side-effect of being changed by the magic. We can have something personal charmed to change the color of our eyes back to brown when we wear it.” Virgil looks Roman in the eyes. “Yep. A deep red. Could even pass as brown in a pinch.”

They all look over to Logan, who hasn’t taken the reversal agent yet. “I don’t know how this is going to work. I don’t know if I am physically able to drink this. Am I stuck like this?” The logical side seems to be beginning to panic, Virgil can feel Logan’s fear prickling along his arms.

Metty moves to stand in front of the panicking logical side, and curls her hands around Logan’s. “Magic made you like this. Magic will return you to normal. Do not think about it, just drink it. Magic will find a way. If I have to douse you with the reversal agent, I will, regardless of the limited quantity. Either way, you will return to normal, it is of the utmost priority.”

Logan looks Metty in the eyes, then looks at the others, who have gathered around him. Roman and Virgil have put hands on his shoulders, and look at him with small smiles. Patton takes Metty’s place in front of him as she steps away, and puts his hands over Logan’s hands holding the cup with the reversal agent “You can do it, Lo.” He whispers, “For Thomas.”

“For Thomas.” The logical side whispers. Logan brings the cup up to his lips, and tips the contents into his mouth. To his surprise, the contents do not flow back out because of a lack of an esophagus. He closes his eyes, and suddenly he feels a sensation that he hasn’t felt in a week. Warmth. It glows within him, warming his core, and flows to his extremities. He flexes his fingers, then he feels the sensation of someone holding his hand, and hands on his shoulders. He suddenly feels the need for oxygen, and he lets out a gasp as he begins to breathe. He opens his eyes, and everyone is still around him, smiling. He looks at his hands. His HUMAN hands. And smiles. “Magic finds a way.” he murmurs, and is suddenly hugged by Patton.

“I told you.” Metty says with a chuckle. “I think dinner is long overdue, let me be your hostess for your last meal in the Imagination. I have a story to tell, and I think you all will be interested in it, not just His Highness.”

“I think that is a fine idea.” Roman says while giving Logan’s shoulder a squeeze. “I haven’t been to your keep before, plus I think Logan still wants to try the Roulettes.”

The three other sides agree, and Metty nods and pulls on a cord on the wall. Servants come in with trays of food, and Metty waves her hand and place settings appear on the table. “Let us dine, then we will enjoy the Roulettes for dessert.” She says as she takes her seat at the head of the table, and Roman and Logan take seats on one side, Patton and Virgil on the other.

The sides enjoy the meal immensely, especially Logan, who hasn’t eaten in a week, and proclaims that the mage was wrong, he was actually hungry when he changed back, but not as much as he would be if he had gone the entire week without food. The dishes where cleared away, and the Roulettes are left where everyone could reach them easily.

Logan is the first to grab one, and looks at it with his deep blue eyes and pops it into his mouth and gets a confused look on his face. “Cantaloupe?” He murmurs. Everyone chuckles at the logical sides confusion. 

“You said you had a tale to tell. Please tell us.” Roman says, sitting back in his chair, holding a glass of lemon-infused water, popping a Roulette into his mouth.

“Yes. It is time to tell the tale.” Metty says as she takes a sip of her own water, and stands up. She plucks a Roulette out of the bowl and eats it thoughtfully. “Are you aware of what the realm has been going through?”

“No, I have not. Please tell me. I need to know what has happened.” The royal side says, all business.


	18. Storytime!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stories are exchanged.

“It started some time ago, the colors seemed dull and not as colorful, the breeze seemed not as fresh. The sunlight was not as bright as it used to be. It was as if it was all diffused, somehow. I know not how long it lasted since time is quite the undetermined thing in the realm, but it seemed to be like that for quite some time. But then, parts of the realm seemed to wither. The forest, the orchards, the grass, the castle gardens. They all withered and died. Dead, grey and brown stalks remained. It was quite horrible. But then, the castle itself began to decay. Large cracks appeared in the parapets, huge holes in the walls, the flags became tattered and rotted off the flagpoles. The castle no longer shone with white light. It was a dull, grey color like the paint just flaked off.”

“No!” Roman gasped. “My castle. My pride and joy…”

Metty held up a finger. “Wait, Your Highness. The story is not finished.” She takes a drink of her water, and continues, “The castle continued to crumble. It was rumored that the royal archives had turned to dust, and whatever the staff tried to repair, another problem would arise. It seemed that the castle was destined to collapse into a pile of rubble. But then...I felt you...depart…” Metty sniffles and a tear rolls down her cheek. “I thought you were gone. I went to the cave you found me in and cried tears of mourning in my dragon form. I collected them all, for dragon tears are a most potent magic. I should know. My tears of rage are what changed your forms. What the citizens of the realm call chaos water. I cried those after our first encounter. I had lost, and was consumed with rage. I had kept those too, some being stolen out of my keep by thieves, but the supply is nearly gone. I no longer cry in rage anymore. Soon chaos water will be extremely rare. But I digress.” Metty looks around at her guests, each of them engrossed in the story.

“I cried what seemed for days. But then I was roused from an exhausted sleep by a howling tempest, a great wind blowing, thunder booming and silver lightning flashing. I chanced a peek outside my cave and saw purple clouds churning in the sky and then a great deluge began. I had to see what was happening elsewhere in the realm if the clouds were over the castle, so I transported there, in my human form. The clouds encompassed the entire realm, I found, the rain pouring down in sheets. I watched as the rain poured down upon the castle, the grounds, the gardens. As suddenly as it began, it stopped. The clouds cleared, the sun shone. It was as bright as it used to be. Plants and grass sprang to life in front of my eyes. Trees regained their canopies within moments, Flowers bloomed. The air was fresh and crisp. The realm seemed to be reborn. But I had to see what had become of the castle. I needed to see it with my own eyes for some reason.”

Metty wiped the escaped tears with her hand, and took another drink of water, took a deep breath, and continued, “I looked upon the castle, and I saw that the rain had washed the grey off the walls and they shone once more. The castle gardens exploded in blooms, and the cracks and holes in the walls disappeared. It seemed it was being rebuilt before my eyes. Any part that had collapsed was repaired within moments, and the flags upon the poles reappeared. Soon it was as it once was, shining in the sun, flags fluttering proudly. The people took it as a sign that Prince Roman had not forsaken them, and would soon return since he had not been seen since before what people were now calling “The Gloom” was upon the realm.”

Metty looks around the table and sees thoughtful looks upon all faces. “I reached out to see if it was true if Prince Roman was actually alive, and I found our connection, but it was as if it had been reset to what it was before when we first started. When we were adversaries, not the allies we had become. I prayed that it wasn’t true. I tried each time I felt him enter the realm, but he would retreat just as fast. I apologize for giving you the troubling dreams, your highness. I was unaware they were causing you emotional distress.”

Roman still has the thoughtful look upon his face as he plucks another Roulette from the bowl. “Apology accepted.”

Metty smiles, then continues, “At the beginning of this week, I feel Roman once more. But he stays longer than he has in the past. I hope that the rumor of a reversal agent for chaos magic will lure him to me so I can rebuild our relationship, since I know he prides the castle apothecary for having all reversal agents available. I whispered to the Mages Collective about the reversal agent as soon as I confirmed that I indeed had it, which turned out to be the tears of mourning I had recently cried, and waited, and hoped that the castle mage would let Roman know about it.”

“The castle mage is rumored to be ill, so I am unsure that he heard. Fortunately for you, but unfortunately for us, another mage heard it, and acted. He did not tell us where the reversal agent was, leaving that out until the very last travel day. But even he did not know it was you who had it.” Roman added, rubbing his chin.

“I felt him change you, but I didn’t know what had happened. The connection suddenly felt, smaller...for obvious reasons unknown to me at the time. I just knew you were still in the realm, and the connection was slowly getting stronger and closer. I took that as a sign and came to the cave to wait. I heard the whispers of Prince Roman defending a wagon on the road to the cave and was encouraged. I even went to a village on the road, where the people were ecstatic that you had been sighted. I remember seeing the mage there, but I did not see any of you.”

“We were still in our campsite outside of town. Patton was injured and poisoned by crossbow bolts from some robbers we encountered that my illusionary human form chased away and we were waiting for the poultices Karybdis made to draw the rest of the poison out of the wounds.” Roman says as he pours more water into his glass.

Patton smiles at Metty as she looks at the paternal side. “I’m all better now. Karybdis knows his stuff. Roman healed the wounds afterward. I’m good as new! Well, besides my polo being magicked off and having to wear my cat hoodie for the rest of the trip. Got kinda warm a few times.”

“I’m curious,” Logan says as he grabs a handful of Roulettes and places them on the napkin in front of him. “You speak of this “connection” you and Roman have. How does it work?”

Metty looks at Roman, who nods his head and waves his hand in a “go ahead” motion as he pops a Roulette in his mouth. “Roman and I seem to be connected on a lesser emotional level. I can tell when he has a “block”, so when he comes into the realm, I sense it, and we work it out. Whether it is a small skirmish to keep up appearances or a full-blown raging battle to get his “creative juices” flowing. He gets the exercise that clears his head, and the people see their prince being all brave and noble while vanquishing the evil Dragon Witch. I don’t mind. Conjuring the “evil creatures” he vanquishes is fun, and afterward, we share a drink or two. He is my creator, after all. It wasn’t like that in the beginning. I was a bit unruly. Roman was patient with me, and I finally saw that working together was much better than being adversaries. The realm is part of Roman, and his well being shapes it. When I finally learned that, we became allies. This is my home, after all. I wouldn’t want it to be destroyed or damaged in any way.”

Virgil huffs out a breath. “I get it now.” He stands up to grab the water pitcher and refills his glass. “Let me tell you a story, Metty. One you deserve to hear. Since you had to experience it here in the Imagination. I should tell you what happened to Roman while all that was happening here.” He takes a drink of his water and begins.

“We all had this plan. To give each other a part of our attributes, so we could all do each other's job if the need arose. It worked, for a while. But then things went all kinds of wrong. We were copies, and it was determined that only one of us was needed. All the others...departed. Patton, Roman, then Logan. Their physical forms ceased to be. Except for me. I was all alone one day.” Metty gasped, and covered her mouth with her hands, looking at Roman. “That's when I must have felt you...go.” Roman nods.

“But you are all here! A way to restore them must have been found.” Metty says, breathless.

“Yes. A way was found. By Logan. He was able to tell me how by appearing in a dream, and I brought their forms back by following his instructions.” Virgil says while smiling at the logical side. “And giving them back the piece of them I still held within me, they were basically reborn. The storm within the realm must have been Roman’s reformation. The rebuilding of the castle was me giving the piece of creativity I had back to Princey.”

“Yes. That makes sense.” Metty says thoughtfully. “I think in a way, the citizens of the imagination know it was you who brought back their prince. The purple stormcloud is a striking emblem.” She says with a wink. Virgil blushes.

Logan crosses his arms on the table. “There still is the mystery on how the chaos water chose our forms when we changed. It seemed to predict what we would be facing, and gave us the means to overcome it.”

Metty contemplates for a moment, then answers, “Dragon tears are a potent magic, some say they are tuned to the highest magic. So what realm is higher than the imagination? The higher consciousness? What rules the higher realms? Is it the divine? Perhaps. Or the fact that you had within you the means to overcome any obstacle, by working together, and using the strengths given to you, and stepping in when the others could not do something due to the constraints of the forms forced upon them.”

Metty smiles and clears her throat and proclaims it time to finally escort them to the door to Roman’s room, and before they knew it, they stand in a familiar clearing, the door standing before them, a sight for sore eyes. She charms Logans and Patton's glasses, Virgil’s hoodie, and Roman’s sash to make their eyes appear brown says her goodbyes, and departs, leaving the sides alone.

Roman opens the door and they all gratefully enter Roman’s room, finally home.

“It has been a week for us, but only seven minutes have gone by here. It is still afternoon!” Virgil groans as he glances at his phone on the dresser, checking the time. “I’m totally going to have some weird form of jet lag now.”

“We all are going to have this “jet lag,” Virge,” Patton says with a yawn. “Maybe a catnap is called for here.”

Roman closes the door, places his hand on the frame and concentrates. The door glows with a golden light, then fades. “I have moved the door so it is now in the castle. I need to go back. There is a lot of work to do. We also need to make a decision regarding Karybdis. We all need to be there, so you all will have to visit my realm one more time. I promise the door will be within the castle, you will not be there more than an hour. He has done a very serious crime of kidnapping the crown prince and the high lords, and we need to come to a decision on what his punishment would be. He is an anomaly, and I need to deal with him whether we like it or not.”

“Understood. How long do we have to determine his punishment?” Logan asks, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes.

“I will give you a few days. Let me know when you all have agreed on something. Just knock on the door to the realm. I will hear it.” Roman says as he puts a hand on the doorknob. “Oh, yes. One more thing.” The royal side then lays his hand on the frame once more, this time the door glows a red, then fades. “I re-synched the time of day with the mind palace, so I won’t have, er..realm lag whenever I come back.” Roman then opens the door, showing a huge bed within an opulent room. “Just my room in the castle. See you all later.” The royal side waves, and steps through the door, and closes it.

Logan, Patton, and Virgil all agree on just taking a 90 minute nap, since according to Logan, that is the optimal time for a nap since you go through all the sleep stages, and after collecting their phones from the dresser where they were forced to leave them, Logan insisting on setting an alarm on each one, they all retire to their respective rooms.

Virgil flops onto his bed, on his back. He can finally sleep on his back. No wings. At last. His shower can wait.

Logan is just happy to finally be able to sleep.

Patton is happy that his famILY is happy, and back to normal. 

The Dragon Witch watched from the treeline as the sides disappeared through the door to the mind palace. The door closed, then disappeared. She then shifted her gaze to the castle. After a few minutes, the sun suddenly rose and it was afternoon. Sometimes that happens. No big deal. The flag indicating that Prince Roman was in residence rose on its pole. The people will be glad to see that. She then disappeared in a swirl of black and green smoke with a smile.

It took a couple of days for everyone’s sleep cycles to reset from the quest to some extent. Patton baked an absurd amount of chocolate chip cookies, and insisted on giving some to the Dragon Witch as a thank you, much to Roman’s amusement when he answered the knocks on the door between the Mind Palace and the Imagination and seeing a grinning Patton with a festively decorated tin full of the cookies. Metty was overjoyed.

The conversations concerning Karybdis around the kitchen table during meals only lasted about two days, and since they needed Roman’s input, and he was chin deep in realm repairs and fairy visit preparations, they postponed a final decision until they could get the royal sides undivided attention. Upon which they were finally able to schedule at least an hour before Roman had to dash off for some “road repair and safety” meeting, but they did come to a unanimous decision. It was time to summon the mage to the castle.


	19. The Mages Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's going to happen to Karybdis? Let's find out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy belated birthday to Patton!

Karybdis walked behind the guard along the castle hallway, dressed in his very best grey pants, shirt and cloak with swirly silver embroidery around the edge of the hood with matching gauntlet style leather gloves and grey suede knee-high boots, nervously looking at the bustling activity around him as staff hustled from one task to another. He heard whispers in passing of the elusive “High Lords” being within the castle, the mage knowing full well who they are referring to.

He was happy to see the royal flag fluttering above the castle the day after he was rudely dismissed by the Dragon Witch. He wondered what had transpired after he was ousted, obviously his information about the reversal agent was right, as evidenced by the normal Prince Roman and Virgil that had stood in the cave before he was rudely banished back home, not even given the chance to see Patton and Logan take the reversal agent, and see the quest come full circle, let alone find out what the reversal agent actually was.

Perhaps he now has a second chance. By all the whispers, they are all in attendance in the castle, and he is being ushered towards an audience with them all. He will be able to see them back to normal with his own eyes.

He thinks back to the first morning, at what Logan had told him as the rest still slept after what he had forced them to do the night before, “I hold no ill will towards you, neither will Patton, because that’s just the way he is, but Roman and Virgil will be another story.” Logan had also said that he and Patton would plead his case to the Prince if he is undecided of his fate. He prays to any deity listening that his highness is merciful and that some kind of camaraderie was formed within the group of questors. He and Logan had many conversations that were wonderful and mentally stimulating. He did count Logan as a friend at the very least. Virgil had seemed to be less angry at him as they got closer to the end of the quest, the mage had the hope of some semblance of mercy upon his person. 

The guard stopped at a large door and entered. “Your Highness, My Lords, the mage Karybdis the Grey, as requested.” The guard says with a bow to the assembled men within the conference room and steps aside to allow Karybdis to enter. “Thank you, you are dismissed,” Roman says and the guard slips back out the door and closes it, and the mage bows before the men standing before him.

Roman clears his throat and glances at the other sides. “You do know why we summoned you here today?”

“Yes, My Prince. I am to answer for the kidnapping and forced the magical transformation of you, Virgil, Logan, and Patton. What I did was inexcusable, regardless of my good intentions. I throw myself at your mercy.” Karybdis hangs his head in shame.

“Yes, well, there are a few things that are in your favor,” Logan says as he steps forward to stand in front of the mage. “You could have just changed us and told us where to go and made us go get it without your help. But you came along, and made the journey as comfortable as possible, providing the transportation, food and shelter along the way, and even helping Patton when he needed it with the poisoned crossbow bolts. For that, we are grateful.”

Hope nestles within the mage’s heart and he looks up into Logan’s eyes, startled to see that they are a deep blue, since both he and Patton opted to wear their “uncharmed” spare glasses, Roman wore a spare sash, and Virgil had on his old hoodie, so Karybdis will see the side-effects for himself. “I am not a cold-hearted man. I would not just send you into the unknown without the means to survive it. It was my duty to My Prince that I help him, even if I was the cause of the predicament in the first place.”

Roman nods and clears his throat, “And that is why I am not going to toss you into the dungeon. Your skills would go to waste there. No, I have a much better ruling for a man of your skills, since you took the initiative to obtain the reversal agent after hearing of its existence. We will call it community service, at the least.”

Karybdis blinks and stares at the royal side, who smiles at the mage. “Your Highness….?”

Virgil and Patton walk over to the mage and each put a hand on a shoulder, “What Princey wants to say is that he has a job for you.” Virgil says with a shoulder squeeze.

“Y-You would offer me a job after I have kidnapped you and forced a previously un-reversible change upon you to selfishly help me in my quest?” The mage stammers, looking at each of the sides individually in the eyes, seeing no hatred or malice within their stares.

Roman crosses his arms. “The rumors saying that the castle mage is in ill health are true. He has been hounding me for ages about getting an assistant. Since you are well versed in the magical arts you would be a perfect candidate. Plus you can help with the fairy visit preparations, since you know them better than I do, and I already have my hands full with other Realm-related issues that cannot wait.”

“I am flattered that I am being considered. I humbly accept.” Karybdis says quickly before Roman can change his mind.

“Yay! Jasper would love the castle stables! All the apples he could want!” Patton bounces and claps his hands, and pulls the mage into a hug, and Virgil and Logan shake the mage's hand after Patton releases him.

“I am sure you want to publish notes about the after-effects of the reversal of chaos water, being the first to see them,” Logan says with a small smile. “Your colleagues within the Mages Collective would be envious.” 

“Indeed they would. But I will leave out names, due to the “sensitive” nature of who was changed in the first place. That is something they do not need to know, and never will.” Karybdis says with a nod to Logan. “You have my word.”

“In that case,” Logan turns and retrieves a small stack of papers from the table behind him. “These are my notes on the experience, and I have interviewed the others, and included their observations, and listed the side-effects. Of course, it is only our eye color that was affected, and nothing else, but it still needed to be written down to be thorough.”

“Thank you, Logan. I appreciate this. I was not in attendance when you and Patton took the reversal agent, and I am grateful for the information.” The mage takes the notes from the logical side, and rolls them up and slips them into a pocket inside his cloak.

“Oh! Your Highness, Virgil, I have something for you both.” Karybdis pulls off his right glove and retrieves something from a pants pocket. He opens his hand and within are two small bottles about the size of a man’s thumb attached to thin gold chains, a glittery substance within each. He then examines the first bottle quickly and hands it to Roman, the second is placed in Virgil’s hand. The anxious side looks at the bottle and raises his eyebrows at the mage. “My fairy hutch beds are designed to collect fairy dust. It is part of my agreement with the fae that stays with me, that I can collect the fairy dust that is shed to use as a potion ingredient. It wouldn’t be right if I kept the dust shed by both of you since you had no knowledge of the agreement I had with the fae, as they consider their dust personal property.”

Roman examines his bottle, turning it so the red fairy dust within shimmers in the light. “Thank you, Karybdis. I appreciate your honesty. You could have just kept it since we did not know of the special purpose for the fairy hutch, but you are well versed in the beliefs of the fae, which demanded that you give it back to us, even if we are no longer fae ourselves. You are indeed a good man.” The mage smiles and bows at the compliment from the royal side.

Virgil looks at this bottle, then hands it to the paternal side standing next to him who smiles brightly as he turns the bottle to make the purple shimmery dust sparkle in the light. “Yeah, thanks,” Virgil says as he takes back the bottle from Patton, and makes the dust shimmer himself.

Roman clears this throat and smiles. “Now since that is out of the way, I am sure you would like to see your quarters and meet Foley, whom you will be assisting for the time being. I have to warn you, he is a bit...eccentric. Even if he is in ill health, he still is very sharp mentally. I suggest you keep an eye out. He likes to play pranks. I surely hope that you can give as well as you can take. The old codger needs to learn a lesson, you have my permission to do so. There is a fairy visit planning meeting day after tomorrow after lunch. I will send for you. We will welcome any input you have to offer, especially on where to locate the fairy accommodations within the castle. Use the rest of today after you meet Foley and tomorrow to move into your new quarters. Jasper will be expected at the royal stables when you are finished moving whatever you need into your room.”

The royal side pulls a cord on the wall, and a young man enters, dressed in white, with Roman’s emblem emblazoned on the front of his tunic. “Your Highness.” He says with a bow.

“Take Karybdis to the mage’s wing when he is ready and show him the quarters that have been prepared for him. Then take him to the castle mage.” Roman picks up a lone roll of parchment, sealed with red wax, Roman’s crest pressed into the wax in sharp relief. “Give this to Foley.” He hands the parchment to the guide, who bows, then moves to the door to wait for the mage to be ready to depart.

“Before you go, mage. Here is your letter of appointment.” Roman says as he hands a rolled parchment tied with a string to the mage. “This will grant you unescorted entry into the castle. Until every one of the guards knows your face, it would be advised that you carry this with you at all times. I have included a map of the castle, but if you ask any of the staff in the halls for help, they will point you in the right direction until you can get your bearings.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Karybdis says with a bow, holding the parchment to his chest. “This job is a dream come true. Ever since I woke up in the forest soaking wet while scrounging mandrake root after being struck by lightning, and saw the castle restored to its former glory walking back home afterward, I had the fervent wish to work within its walls. I will forever count my blessings that my ill-conceived plan didn’t land me in the dungeon.”

“According to Metty, that is where you belong,” Roman says with a chuckle after taking in the startled glances his way after the mage’s statement. “Virgil and I may have forgiven you, but she will take a bit longer. You are greatly fortunate that she didn’t turn you into a frog.”

Karybdis winces. “I would rather stay human, thank you. I think I will tread carefully whenever I hear that she is involved in something. With your permission, My Prince.” The mage bows and walks toward the waiting guide. “Let us go. I am eager to see my quarters and to meet the castle mage personally. Be well.” With a wave to the gathered sides in the room, Karybdis follows the guide out, closing the door with another wave.

“Well, that was a shocking revelation!” Patton chirps with a giggle.

All eyes shift to Virgil. “What?” The anxious side growls. “How was I supposed to know what was happening in the Imagination? I was kinda busy! Stop looking at me like that!”

Patton chuckles. “It’s not Virge’s fault! What’s past is past. How about we take a look at that “High Lord’s Wall” that Roman mentioned. I would like to see it myself.” The paternal side says as he gives the anxious side an affectionate shoulder squeeze and looks at Roman.

“I, too am interested in seeing it,” Logan adds.

“I can give you all a personal tour of the castle!” Roman says with a flourish of his arms. “If you don’t mind the staff we meet bowing continuously, that is. I am pretty sure the whole castle knows you all are here anyway. You all simply must let me show you my home away from the mind palace!” All eyes shift to Virgil, who simply shrugs and flips his hood up over his head. “Okay, Princey. Give us the nickel tour.”

Roman claps his hands and strides to the door, throwing it open and with a flourish of his arms proclaims, “This way, everyone!” and walks out of the room, stopping outside the door to make sure everyone is following and continues on.

Roman shows them the gardens, the kitchen (and his favorite thing to do in the kitchen, sneak cookies out of the cookie jar) “Not as good as yours, Padre. Don’t worry.” as he distributes the purloined treats to everyone. “He’s right. Not as good as yours, Super Dad.” Virgil agrees after trying his cookie. Patton just gives a small smile as he eats his. Logan simply munches on his, stoic as ever, and silently agrees.

Roman continues the tour with his living quarters, the medical wing, and the mage’s wing, having just missed Karybdis as he had left a few minutes before the group arrived. But they did meet Foley, who besides being painfully thin and pale, seemed in good spirits.

“I believe that young lad you appointed as my assistant will do well if he survives the hazing I will be putting him through.” Foley chuckles as he runs his hand over his long, flowing white beard. 

“Don’t get full of yourself, old man. I gave him my blessing to put you in your place as he deemed fit.” Roman says as he crossed his arms with a smirk. “He may surprise you.”

Foley waves a hand in dismissal. “Perhaps. I have yet to see anyone go “wand to wand” with me in a prank war and come out not covered in warts.” The old mage perches a pair of spectacles on his nose and looks up. “My goodness! You didn’t tell me that you had brought visitors with you!”

The royal side chuckles. “If you weren’t blind as a bat, you would have seen them when they came in with me.” He clears his throat, and continues, “Logan, Patton, Virgil. This is Foley, the castle mage.”

Foley’s eyes widen. “You brought the high lords to visit me? I am honored!” The old mage shakes each of their hands vigorously. “It is a pleasure to meet you all!”

“I was giving them a tour of the castle, it was only common sense that they should meet you. You are still recovering from your illness, you should rest. We will be on our way now, make sure you take your medicine.” Roman says with a pointed look.

“Yes, yes,” Foley mutters as he shuffles toward his bedroom. “It was wonderful meeting you all. Be well.” He says with a wave as Roman and the sides leave him to rest.

“Here it is, the throne room,” Roman says as he pulls open the huge meticulously carved wooden doors. The sides file in and look around. White marble floor, four huge stained glass windows showing a green dragon, a knight, a red rose and a white horse, Roman’s gold and white throne upon a raised white marble dais with red cushions and Roman’s red and gold shield crest above the throne framed by huge red and gold curtains at one end of the room, a deep red carpet runner starts at the throne and continues down the center of the room toward the opposite wall, where it stops, dividing the room into equal halves. Beautifully woven tapestries along the walls and an enormous gold chandelier in the center with brightly glowing orbs within it casting the room in a warm light. Everyone’s eyes are drawn to the three large shields on the wall opposite the throne, the shields themselves framed by huge gold and red curtains on each side.

“Wow, Roman. These are wonderful!” Patton says with admiration in his voice. “The dogs and cats on mine are adorable!”

“I am quite impressed,” Logan says as he gazes at his shield. “The table of elements serving as the frame is quite adequate.” 

“I had a hard time designing yours, Logan. The table of elements around the edge sort of came to me.” Roman says with a smile.

Virgil gazes at his shield, taking in the meticulous way his symbol was recreated with amazing accuracy and the swirling shadows around the edge. “You painted all of these? How long did it take?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Roman sighs, “Maybe a month and a half? I know it took me at least 2 weeks for each, even Logan’s.”

“Impressive,” Logan says while Virgil and Patton pull out their phones and take pictures, and the logical side quickly does the same.

“I would love to get a picture of you on your throne, Roman,” Patton says as he walks up to the ornate throne on the other side of the room.

“Of course!” Roman says as he bounds up to the chair and flops down, one leg over an arm, looking very casual.

“That doesn’t look gay at all,” Virgil says with a chuckle

“Oh really? I could be gayer!” Roman says while putting his hand up to his mouth and “fake yawning” and switches to a piercing “come hither” stare, complete with beckoning hand.

Patton giggles. “Now how about a more serious looking one.”

Roman stands up, straightens his clothes, and sits back down, back straight, putting his hands on the armrests and smiling down at Patton, but then raises his right hand and bends down slightly to rest his chin on his index finger and thumb and softly smiles. Patton takes the picture with a huge smile. “Amazing! Thanks so much for the tour, Roman. I loved seeing your castle!”

“As did I. It was quite educational,” Logan adds with a small smile.

“Yeah. It was really cool seeing where you go when you leave the mind palace.” Virgil says as Roman stands up and walks to a nearby door.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Roman says with a small bow. “You had never been to my castle before, so it was only common courtesy that you get the royal tour!” The royal side places his hand on the doorframe and it glows yellow for a couple of seconds. “Here we are, one door to the mind palace.”

Logan opens the door and sees the interior of Roman’s room. “Please let me know what you come up with regarding a system that lets Karybdis and I exchange correspondence.”

“I certainly will. If you two want to be pen pals, who am I to stop you? Between the mage and I, we should come up with something a bit more reliable than using me as a letter carrier.” The creative side says with a chuckle.

“Hey princey, do you want me to put your bottle of fairy dust on your dresser? I don’t think you want to lose it.” Virgil says as he steps up to the door to go in.

“Certainly, Virge. Most appreciated!” Roman says while handing the anxious side the small bottle he had been holding in his hand for the entire tour.

“I think what we did today was a good thing,” Patton says with a smile. “You did want to keep an eye on him, and this makes the perfect way to do it. Maybe someday I will visit Jasper in the stables! Oh! It’s time for lunch, are you coming with us, Roman?”

“No, I have more meetings to attend, and I will grab something from the kitchen before they begin, but I will be there for dinner. I don’t want to overwork myself. I intend to set a strict schedule to manage all the chaos that is happening right now.” Roman says as he runs a hand through his hair. “I can’t afford to lose sleep or miss too many meals or my mental state will suffer. I will always make sure to make it to the mind palace for dinner, and to get a good night’s sleep.” 

Patton nods. “Fair enough. See you at dinner then.” 

The three sides file past and enter Roman’s room in the mind palace, and the creative side closes the door after them.

Roman takes a deep breath. Back to managing the kingdom. After getting a sandwich or two from the kitchens, that is.


	20. Fairy Visits, Prank Wars, and Tea Parties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue.

Roman quickly put his foot down concerning the “hazing” Foley intended to put Karybdis through. On the scroll handed to Foley by the guide when the two mages first met, was the express order to refrain from pranks until after the fairy visit. To violate the order from Roman would mean a trip to the dungeon to be tossed into the “mages cell” (which absorbed magic) for the duration of the preparations and visit itself. Foley designed the cell himself. He didn’t intend to ignore the order from his prince, so he waited. And planned.

The fairy visit preparations moved along even quicker after Karybdis was brought into the planning. Roman took the mages suggestion that he treat them the same as if they were any other visiting dignitaries, and ran with it. The mage gave the castle cabinet makers the plans to his fairy hutch (he designed it himself) as a template for the new fairy accommodations within the visitor's wing, and even supplied the lights to be installed. The new fairy lodging was installed at shoulder height within a wall between a guest room and a window near the castle gardens after Roman inspected it with a critical eye, and gave the carpenters the nod to go forward with the installation. Being installed next to a window made it easier to make a balcony giving the fae access to the outside and a grand view of the castle gardens in the process. The door to the new rooms was a masterpiece of carved vines. Roman was pleased.

Roman relayed all of this to the other sides as he joined them each night for dinner, telling them about the new quarters for the visitors and all the work that went into them. He also told them of his order to Foley to hold off his “hazing” until after the visit, and his apprehension of what would happen to Karybdis, since he was giving Foley time to plan. Logan assured him that the mage could take care of himself, and not to worry. Roman stayed concerned, he couldn’t help it. He hoped Foley would behave himself, and hoped his threat held some weight. Nonetheless, he had fairies to welcome soon.

The day of the visit was bright and sunny (Roman made sure it was a perfect temperature too), and when the Ambassador arrived, she was greeted by Roman, Foley, and Karybdis inside a conference room with a large table. She was then amazed even further when Roman held out his hand to Karybdis, accepted a potion, climbed up onto the table, and drank it. He shrank down to 8 inches (but still human) and officially welcomed the Ambassador to the castle. The fairy was so touched with the gesture, and couldn’t help herself when she stepped up to Roman and kissed each of his cheeks in a casual fairy greeting. Roman simply smiled and kissed the knuckles of her hand with a bow, as he had done before.

The visit went swimmingly, the fairies loving the quarters within the castle, and were even more grateful when Roman would take the shrinking potion to talk with them. He told them of the end of the quest, and even who was responsible in the first place, which distressed Ambassador Malia, but Roman assured her that he held no ill will towards him, and even gave him a job in the castle. She seemed to accept that, but the royal side was sure she was going to give the mage a piece of her mind when she saw him next. Roman couldn’t help but chuckle at the imagined scene of the 8 inch incensed fairy scolding the full human sized mage. When he told the other sides at dinner that night, they all agreed it would indeed be a humorous sight, accented with chuckles all around when the others imagined the scene for themselves.

When the fairy delegation left, promising to return with volunteers for the castle jobs that Roman had created just for the fairies so they could contribute to the running and security of the realm. They could be messengers and gardeners, and even covert guards, among other things, along with the permanent Ambassador post with its own guards that would increase communication between Roman and the fae. The royal side was content with what he accomplished, with the help of a very reversible common shrinking potion, used in an uncommon way. Plans were immediately implemented to construct lodging for the fae who would be filling the newly created posts within the castle, including a grand ambassadors quarters.

As soon as the fairies were on their way, Roman immediately forbade any of the castle staff to go to the mage’s wing of the castle, to minimize any innocent people being hit by the crossfire. It wasn’t long before loud, strange noises and horrible smells would be emanating from the quarters of the mages as the magical prank war began.

It raged for several days behind closed doors, even Roman staying clear. Every time Karybdis ventured forth from his rooms he would seem unaffected, no warts, boils, or odd colored parts of his body evident. Not even uncontrollable scratching. Only a serene smile whenever the royal side asked about his well being. Foley was conspicuously absent from any realm related meetings, sending Karybdis in his stead. Roman was growing concerned until both mages appeared before him one day, Karybdis unaffected as always, but Foley was a different story. His white flowing beard and hair was an eye-watering bright pink, accented by purple spots all over his scowling face. They both reported that the prank war was over and that Roman could send the cleaning staff back into the mages wing of the castle. The royal side was overjoyed and did so immediately. Karybdis took pity on Foley and reversed his curses, giving Foley his natural coloration back. The two mages became good friends afterward, often traveling to Karybdis’ small cottage on their days off, trading potion recipes and spell notes. Roman was overjoyed that they got along so well, it was well evident that if Foley announced his retirement, who would get the nod to take his place as castle mage.

Now that Karybdis was no longer distracted by diverting any pranks directed at him, Roman gave him the task of coming up with a letter delivery system for his and Logan’s correspondence, since he was sick of carrying Logan’s letters to the mage, which was interrupted by the raging prank war. Something more reliable than the royal side needed to be implemented, that wouldn’t be affected or diverted by an itching curse. The mage went to work.

Roman ended up helping the mage, after learning of the system he wanted to put in place, since he would have to modify the door to the imagination with two shoulder-height mail slots, something the mage knew nothing about, with a catch basket below one on the mind-palace side. The mage came up with a simple system of Logan stamping a rune on the envelope and insert the stamped letter into the mail slot designated “outgoing” in the large oaken door, and on the other side, the rune is immediately activated by the intrinsic magic of the imagination, teleporting it to a special “incoming” mail holder on the mage’s desk with the same rune that is on the letter. When the mage wrote back, he would stamp his letter with another rune, drop it into the “outgoing” mail holder that would teleport it to the other mail slot, which would drop it into the basket in the mind-palace. Logan installed a small sensor that would notify him by vibrating his phone that a letter has been received, along with a blinking light on the basket. It worked flawlessly, and Logan was pleased, and Karybdis and the logical side continued their discussions via “rune post” as Roman began calling it. Logan didn’t think about it too hard. It was Roman’s realm. It was as far from logical it can get.

Roman sat at his desk in his room in the castle and signed the last “royal decree” with a tired flourish, set the pen down, and rubbed his eyes. At last, he would be able to take a break, having finally gotten through the last 2 weeks concerning getting everything rolling concerning whipping the Imagination back into shape. The fairy visit went swimmingly, especially thanks to a suggestion from Karybdis. The “meeting the fae on their level” was an excellent idea, even though Roman was nervous about going back to 8 inches after he finally was back to “relative” normal, but it did make sense to make the light fae feel welcome and listened to in case they had any complaints. Thankfully, there was none, and Ambassador Malia appreciated the gesture. Now, the royal side was ready for a movie night with the rest of the sides. Popcorn and Disney, Roman’s idea of heaven. He was looking forward to things being less hectic. His bed in the castle was adequate, but he preferred his bed in the mind palace. He can finally sleep soundly knowing that his realm is back up to par. Thomas deserves nothing less. Roman pushes his chair away from the desk, and stands up, stretching his back. It was time to finally spend some time in the mind palace, he missed chatting with the others and Virgil’s snarky wit. The dinners were just not enough. The royal side yawns widely and walks to the door to his room. He could summon the door to the mind palace, but he figured the short stroll to the throne room would be a fine way to stretch his legs before a much-deserved rest.

Virgil sat at the kitchen table in the mind palace, still in his Nightmare Before Christmas fleece sleep pants and a black t-shirt, drawing pad in front of him, a mug of chamomile tea and bottle of water to the left, twirling the pencil with his fingers absentmindedly. The light in the commons was better for drawing, his room being too dark. He hadn’t drawn in years, having in the past only drawn gloomy landscapes, but after he had brought the others back he had the inspiration to draw again. Perhaps a small sliver of creativity still resided in the anxious side, poking him to put memories to paper. He didn’t think about it too hard. It helped him organize his thoughts and relaxed him and his drawings were actually pretty good. He already had a small stack of drawings from after the previous adventure in the subconscious and a few more recent memories in a portfolio next to the drawing pad on the table, some based on actual memories and some that were recreations of what he thought had happened, having not been very aware for the events as they happened. He couldn’t sleep, so here he was once again, sitting at the kitchen table at an ungodly hour to hopefully put some memories to paper to soothe whatever uneasiness was chasing away the urge to sleep, since listening to music had no effect.

He took a sip of tea, ran his hand over the smooth blank page, and made a decision on what to draw. He dove right in, the scratching of the pencil almost soothing as the picture took form in front of him. The minutes flew by as the form took shape on the paper. Putting down the black and choosing another color from the neat lineup of colored pencils next to the pad gave him the pause he needed to crack the top of the bottle of water and take a sip, his tea mug suddenly empty, and he wasn’t going to brew more until the picture was done.

“That is quite good.” a voice said behind him, causing the anxious side to clutch at his chest and turn around with a gasp, to find Logan behind him, in his dark blue NASA logo sleep pants and t-shirt, a small smile on his lips. “Apologies, I didn’t intend to alarm you, I was unaware that you could draw.” 

The anxious side still had a hand to his chest as he tried to get his breath back. “Uh, yeah, I used to draw landscapes a long time ago but started to draw memories after I brought you guys back. Not entirely sure why, but it relaxes me.”

The logical side hums in understanding and picks up Virgil’s empty Jack Skellington mug. “Let me brew you some more tea. I had come downstairs because I could not sleep to fix a cup of chamomile tea to relax me.”

“Thanks.” The anxious side says as Logan moves to the stove to check the water level in the teakettle, then turning on a burner and setting the teakettle upon it to heat the water within.

“I suppose I am not quite recovered from our adventure in the Imagination,” The logical side says as he opens a cupboard and retrieves his Doctor Who mug (with disappearing TARDIS, just add hot water) and drops a tea bag in both mugs on the counter.

Virgil adds a touch of color to his drawing. “It will take some time. Roman’s had his meeting with the fairies, and I’m sure it will get back to normal soon. He has worked hard to get his realm back in shape.”

“Indeed he has. Karybdis has relayed how hard Roman worked on all that had to be done, with the fae visit and everything else he was working on. He needs a rest.” Logan states as the kettle whistles on the stove and he turns off the burner and pours the hot water into the mugs.

“I think the fairy visit was the turning point. He can breathe easier now that it is out of the way. I’m sure that he can finally get some R and R soon.” Virgil says as he accepts his mug from Logan as the logical side sits at the table, near Virgil’s portfolio.

A door opening and closing upstairs cause both sides to look at each other with raised eyebrows, and the sound of someone coming down the stairs has them turning to see a slightly disheveled Roman wearily appearing at the bottom of the stairs and unceremoniously flopping onto the couch. 

“Greetings fellow denizens of the mind palace.” The royal side says with exhaustion practically oozing from his slouched form.

“Heya Princey. You look tired.” Virgil says as he sips his tea.

“Indeed. I feel as though I have battled a manticore-chimera! And believe me when I have said I have actually battled a manticore-chimera. That was the worst decision I have ever made. I barely defeated the beast.” The royal side says with a feeble wave of his hand.

“Would you like some tea, Roman? We just made some, so the water is still hot.” Logan says as he stirs his tea.

“That is a wonderful idea,” Roman says as he wearily gets to his feet and shuffles over to the cupboard and grabs his favorite mug with his shield upon it, and drops in a tea bag. “I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be up at this hour, to tell you the truth.”

“I came down here to draw, since I couldn't sleep, and looks like Logan couldn’t sleep either, so yeah, insomniacs unite! Or whatever.” Virgil says with a small smile.

“No worries! I am enjoying the company, to be honest.” Roman says as he sits down at the table with his tea. “Now that everything is running smoothly, I can get some much-needed rest.”

“We were just discussing that before you arrived,” Logan says as he sets down his mug. “You did throw yourself into getting things in motion soon after you dropped us off at the mind palace after we all returned to normal. Did you get any sleep?”

“Some. I think Karybdis slipped me a nod-off potion at one point since there was a time I didn’t remember going to my quarters in the castle, but that was where I woke up.” Roman mused as he took a sip of tea. “I think that was just before the visit. I caught power naps in between meetings. Plus I managed to give Thomas some good ideas for some short videos. I’m exhausted. Thank goodness things can get back to what we call normal now.”

“Hey kiddos, having a tea party? Hopefully, I’m not too late to join!” Patton says with a yawn as he descends the last few steps of the stairs, wearing his cat onesie, a fluffy blue blanket draped over his shoulders. 

“Virgil and I couldn’t sleep, Roman just arrived from the Imagination. Would you like a cup of tea, Patton?” With the moral sides affirmative nod, Logan moves to the stove to check the water level in the kettle. “It will be a few minutes, the water level is too low. I have to add more.” So Logan does just that and puts the kettle on to boil.

“I’m willing to wait,” Patton says as he moves to the last chair at the table, and in doing so, gets a look at what Virgil had been drawing. ‘Oh, my. That is wonderful!” He gushes.

The moral sides exclamation catches Roman’s attention. “Padre? What…?” Just as the royal side begins to ask his question, he notices what Patton is staring at, and gets a better look himself. Upon the paper in front of the anxious side, is a perfect drawing of an injured transformed Patton, laying upon a bed, poultices in place. On his chest, a fairy Virgil sits, watching over him.

“My, that is magnificent! How long have you been drawing like this? Don’t tell me you could do this the whole time!” Roman says with a cocked eyebrow.

“No, Princey. I just did gloomy landscapes before. I threw them away after I would do them. It was just a way to relax, nothing more. But after I brought you guys back, I switched to drawing memories with you guys or a close facsimile of a memory I wasn’t completely part of or conscious for.” Virgil says with a shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t know why, but it does relax me, plus it comes in handy since I didn’t have a phone to take pictures. You made us leave them in your room in the mind palace.”

A thoughtful look crosses the creative sides face, and his eyes alight upon the portfolio on the table. “Are you comfortable sharing what you have drawn so far? I wouldn’t want to cause you any undue stress. I am curious, nothing more.”

The anxious side glances at the portfolio on the table, and a shot of panic pops up, but he quickly snuffs it out. These are mostly their memories too. He has nothing to fear from the others, who have gone through exactly what he is drawing in the first place. They have already voiced their opinions of the first drawing they have seen, and they like it. He sees nothing wrong with sharing the rest. 

Virgil nods, and Roman moves the portfolio so he can open it. The others gather around him as he opens it and begins to look at the drawings stored inside. They all look at each drawing, one by one, and the anxious side stands to brew another cup of tea since the kettle is on the verge of boiling anyway.

“Nikola Tesla.” The logical side mutters, and Virgil turns from putting a tea bag into his and Patton’s “kittens” mug to see what caused Logan to blurt his version of a curse and sees the logical side holding one of his drawings in his hands, eyes wide with wonder. “I thought only Patton saw me,” Logan whispers, as Virgil steps over to Logan to see what picture he is looking at. A full color transformed Logan is looking at himself in the mirror, the fingers of one hand touching his cheek, his glowing indigo eyes somehow conveying sadness, as the other hand lays flat upon the mirror. “I was unaware of what my other hand was doing. I was only concentrating on the one on my face. I could not feel it.” The logical side whispers.

Patton glances at the picture in Logan’s hands and puts a hand on the logical sides shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “And after that night, you seemed to get better, which was wonderful!” Patton says with a smile. “You just needed a reminder that we are a famILY.”

“I was spying on you,” Virgil confesses. “But it was out of concern for your well being. Good thing Super Dad was on the same page as I was, and prodded you in the right direction.”

“I appreciate it. I do.” Logan says with a smile. The logical side takes a deep breath and moves to put the picture in the pile of those already viewed. “You can keep that one if you want,” Virgil says as he hands Patton his tea and sits back down at the table. “I can always draw it again.”

“Thank you, Virgil.” Logan says as he lays the picture off to the side, away from the “seen” pile.

They look at each drawing, one by one, remarking on the memories it brought forth. There was a portrait of each of them in the small cells at the beginning of the quest, and the resulting “after” portrait. A picture of fairy Roman preening in front of a mirror made each of them chuckle, and a picture of Karybdis tending the fire at one of the many campsites, a picture of Patton tending to Jasper, and Patton and Logan at the Roulette bush. The picture of Metty, resting her chin on her entwined fingers with a mischievous smile on her face made Roman chuckle. “That was when she gave me and Virgil the reversal agent. She didn’t even tell us that she did it until I had drunk it already.” The royal side explains when Patton and Logan seem confused.

When they got into the first batch of drawings that Virgil had done, they did so reverently. They quietly looked at the drawings the anxious side had done after their reformation. Logan sitting reading a book, Roman sitting on the floor, lost in thought, a pad of paper on the coffee table in front of him, Patton in the doorway to the kitchen. A picture of an unconscious Virgil being carried by Roman, with Logan next to the royal side. “I had to guess on that one.” The anxious side says. “Since, I was uh...out of it? I just knew I heard Princey and Teach at the time.”

The last picture in the portfolio was of Virgil sitting on the floor across from Roman’s door, back against the wall, head down in sorrow. “Oh, kiddo,” Patton whispers as he looks at Virgil across the table. “Don’t worry, Super Dad. That’s all in the past. Logan figured out a way, and you are all here now. Everything’s good. Uh….everything is good right, Roman? All of us being up isn’t messing with Thomas in any way, is it? I can’t tell.”

Roman closes his eyes and concentrates for a moment. “Nope, he’s fine. Dreaming pleasant dreams and all that. No harm, no foul.” The royal side opens his eyes and smiles as he carefully gathers the “seen” pile up and shifts it back into the portfolio and closes the cover. “These were all amazing. It was interesting to see the memories you had put down onto paper. If this calms you, keep doing it. I, for one, hear my bed calling me. I intend to take a few “mental health” days away from the Imagination. It can run itself fine for a bit. Thomas needs his creativity bright eyed and bushy tailed, and rest is what I need right now.”

“Agreed.” Logan states. “This has been rather cathartic. I think I shall also turn in, there are a few more hours until morning, and I believe I will be able to sleep now. Goodnight, everyone.” The logical side picks up the gifted drawing and heads upstairs to everyone's murmured “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, you two,” Roman says as he disappears upstairs, and a few moments later, his door is heard opening and closing, leaving Patton and Virgil alone.

“I’m still not tired.” Patton sighs. “I think I will watch a movie.” The moral side shuffles to the DVD movies next to the TV and begins to look through them. “I wanna watch Moana,” Patton says as he puts the movie on and turns on the TV, plopping down on the couch, grabbing the remote and arranging his blanket over his legs.

“Mind if I join you?” the anxious side says as he moves to the couch to sit down, and the moral side pats the seat next to him with a big grin. “Sure, kiddo!”

Virgil sits down next to Patton, and the moral side puts the blanket over the anxious sides legs, and snuggles next to him, selecting play on the remote to start the movie.

The two are found the next morning by Logan, deep asleep snuggled together. The logical side grabs the blue blanket that had fallen to the floor and covers the two sides sleeping on the couch and turns off the TV and DVD player. Yes, back to normal. Whatever that is. The logical side thinks with a small smile, as he walks into the kitchen to make the morning coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! Wow! I had never thought that I would be able to write a 20 chapter anything! And it all started when a question popped into my head, presumably Virgil asking Roman in an exasperated manner, "So tell me, why does Patton have four arms? And Logan is silver? Better be good." I was too chicken to send it to anyone as a writing prompt...so I took it myself. I initially had them in the mind palace, having been changed by a visitor from "the higher consciousness" but scrapped that idea because I hit a block and had no idea how to go forward. The Imagination was the next logical step. I just had to remember to NOT READ ANY ANGST or a writer's block of titanic proportions would totally derail any writing.
> 
> I noticed chapter 12 was missing it's first part. All fixed now. Thanks for reading!!


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